Washington

The $70 million-asset bank said in a press release that Thomas Dungan 3rd, Yong Li, Wendy Mitchell and Paul Zhu have joined its six directors.

The president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank is best known for her dissenting votes on monetary policy, but that's not the only way she stands out. Her background as a farmer and former bank examiner gives her a unique perspective among Fed officials.

Community bankers say that reclassifying "reciprocal deposits" as a less risky type of deposit will help them to compete with large banks. Some deposit brokers are crying foul, arguing that the proposed legislation would put them at a competitive disadvantage. Observers, meanwhile, say the bill is so narrowly written that it would hardly affect competition.

Riverview Bancorp in Vancouver, Wash., has agreed to buy certain assets and liabilities of MBank in Gresham, Ore.

WASHINGTON -- The Chamber of Digital Commerce has opened a new outpost in the nation’s capital. But instead of looking for a staid law office, the bitcoin advocacy group formed a partnership with local incubator 1776 to launch the DC Blockchain Center.

A bipartisan duo of lawmakers announced Monday they are forming the Congressional Blockchain Caucus in an effort to educate policymakers on digital currency and related issues.

Washington Federal in Seattle has named Erin Lantz, a general manager of mortgages at Zillow Group, to its board. Lantz, 37, worked at Bank of America from April 2003 to 2010, eventually serving as senior vice president of program management.

Washington Trust, No. 48 in the overall ranking, is No. 8 in the category for banks with $3 billion to $10 billion of assets.

United Bankshares in West Virginia has quietly become a $14 billion-asset player in its region thanks to the M&A strategy of its highly respected leader, Richard Adams, who has a way of establishing a rapport with community bank chiefs. One recent seller is a repeat customer.

Banks in cities such as Seattle and New York are getting creative with branching, adding some that are smaller than modest apartments.

United Bankshares is in talks to acquire rival Washington-area lender Cardinal Financial, according to people familiar with the matter, as regional banks seek to pair up to counter low interest rates and mounting regulatory costs.

Old Dominion National Bank in McLean, Va., has hired Stephanie Lykins-Harvey, formerly of Cardinal Bank in McLean, as director of retail banking.

Four years after the first states legalized marijuana, most bankers still want nothing to do with it.

Columbia Banking System in Tacoma, Wash., reported higher quarterly profits that reflected increased lending.

Brent Beardall, who has been with Washington Federal since 2001, was named president of the $14.8 billion-asset company and its primary banking unit and retains his job as chief banking officer.

Banner Corp. in Walla Walla, Wash., reported higher quarterly earnings as it continued to benefit from a recent acquisition.

Anchor Bancorp in Lacey, Wash., which has been facing pressure from a prominent activist investor to sell itself, has hired an investment bank to explore strategic options.

Executives at several minority-owned community banks nationwide, including OneUnited Bank in Boston and Carver Federal Savings Bank in New York, say they have received a windfall of deposits in recent weeks, coinciding with the introduction of the Black Money Matters Project.

The $25 billion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that BankUnited Small Business Finance is now making loans in Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin.

A couple of years ago, the activist investor Joseph Stilwell said Anchor Bancorp in Lacey, Wash., deserved more time to try to right itself. Apparently he thinks that time is up.