Arkansas

Matt Machen, who previously served as the company’s president, has been at Bear State since 2011.

Asset quality remained solid as the Little Rock company improved loan-to-deposit, efficiency ratios last quarter following two major bank acquisitions.

Simmons First National in Pine Bluff, Ark., has agreed to buy the parent of First South Bank in Jackson, Tenn.

Home BancShares in Conway, Ark., said in a press release Thursday that its bank has been declared the winning bidder for Bank of Commerce in Sarasota, Fla., as part of a bankruptcy auction.

Banks have been waiting on Justice Department guidelines on how to make their websites compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but many are being advised to take action now or face lawsuits from disabled customers.

Voters in Florida, North Dakota, Montana and Arkansas approved medical marijuana measures on Tuesday, while their counterparts in California, Massachusetts and Nevada approved recreational pot initiatives.

Home BancShares in Conway, Ark., has agreed to buy the parent of Landmark Bank in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Regulators have pressed banks to watch out for rising concentrations of commercial real estate loans. Some banks have paid heed, but others are skyrocketing past recommended thresholds.

Meet JPMorgan Chase's new general counsel. Stacey Friedman, a tough financial litigator who also fights for social justice, is the only woman to serve as the general counsel of a systemically important U.S. bank. From crisis-era legal strategy to a recent failed grade on a living will, she embraces every challenge. But one of her proudest accomplishments is unrelated to banking: a pro bono case she helped win to stop a ban on same-sex couples adopting children.

Home BancShares co-founder and Chairman John Allison is shrinking his ownership stake in the Conway, Ark., company for estate-planning purposes.

Years of branch closures and job cuts are paying off for banks in the form of much-improved efficiency ratios. But with low interest rates still crimping profits, banks remain under pressure to continue reducing expenses.

Groups in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and elsewhere are stepping up efforts to create programs and conferences dedicated to younger bankers, including millennials.

Popular with employees: The "Give a Wow" program allows employees to recognize each other for going above and beyond. Points are awarded and can be used to purchase items from a designated website.

Allied Bank in Mulberry, Ark., has been ordered to immediately raise capital or find a buyer to address its precarious capital position.

The $1.5 billion-asset Equity said in a press release Thursday that it will pay $68.8 million in cash and stock for the $475 million-asset parent of Community First Bank.

The Little Rock, Ark., bank got the final regulatory approval it needed to buy C&S and C1, but not before agreeing to address some community reinvestment concerns in the Atlanta market and elsewhere.

Bank of the Ozarks in Little Rock, Ark., has launched a subordinated debt offering that was well telegraphed to the market but that is smaller than some had anticipated.

Simmons First National in Pine Bluff, Ark., has agreed to buy Citizens National Bancorp in Athens, Tenn.

Truxton Trust's approach is just one strategy banks are using attract more wealthy clients. But whether they are exploring out-of-market opportunities, staying local or employing robo-advisers, banks all have the same goals: to generate more fee income at a time when margins from lending continue to shrink.

Simmons First National in Pine Bluff, Ark., plans to close 10 banks across four states by the end of the second quarter: three branches in Arkansas, four in the Missouri and Kansas region and three in Tennessee.