Many big banks in debt-plagued Europe need to slim down and raise capital. As a result, experts say they expect more opportunities for U.S. banks to beef up as overseas conglomerates unload unwanted assets.

NCUA has cleared the acquisition by United FCU of Griffith Savings Bank, the first purchase of a bank by a federally chartered credit union, and the deal now awaits approval by the FDIC.

Small but profitable Wedbush Bank, a sister company of Wedbush Securities, is the rare example of a thriving bank linked to a brokerage firm. Now the bank is looking to expand by scouting for an acquisition along the West Coast.

The NCUA approved a serices of mergers for billion-dollar-plus credit unions, which are gobbling up smaller troubled institutions at an accelerating pace.

The extra $70 million for the auto lender is a small figure, but the announcement stirred questions about how much more TD will pay and whether it has been forthright about the acquisition.

Toronto-Dominion Bank and TCF Financial Corp. said Thursday they had completed separate acquisition deals — TD for almost all of MBNA Canada's credit card portfolio, TCF for auto lender Gateway One.

Sheshunoff & Co. has devised a three-part quiz to determine if a troubled bank offers a good bargain or is too risky to purchase.

The names of 18 former CapitalBank branches in South Carolina have been changed to Park Sterling Bank.

Banks launched later in the decade, whose ramps to profitability lagged their predecessors’, provide a cautionary tale about headwinds that can emerge in an unstable economy, and the dangers of piling into a strategy based on brokered deposits and real estate lending.

The roughly 800 banks opened since 2002 have failed at about twice the industrywide pace. But some, including a few that have been repurposed as rollup vehicles, have prospered. The tables here rank the best and worst performers among the de novos of the past decade.

The Treasury said Thursday it expects to gain net proceeds of $3.4 million after pricing warrants to purchase shares in Associated Banc-Corp., one of the financial institutions it rescued during the financial crisis.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has closed its private banking unit in Brazil, in order to concentrate its efforts in areas where it is more competitive here, the Valor Economico reported on Thursday.

Three banking industry veterans are launching a hedge fund that will invest in small and mid-sized banks that are ripe for consolidation.

Trustmark said late Wednesday that it will pay $22 million for the $247 million-asset Bay Bank, representing about 85% of the seller's tangible book value at Sept. 30.

Getco LLC on Wednesday said it plans to expand its New York Stock Exchange floor-trading business as part of a long-range plan by the Chicago-based trading firm to build a client base of issuers and financial institutions.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Members of Volunteer Corporate CU approved the combination with West Virginia Corporate FCU to create a $1.5 billion corporate, one of six pending corporate marriages.

Weak community banks will have to give in and start selling in greater numbers next year, two executives of acquisitive banks predict.

Porter Bancorp Inc.'s largest outside shareholder says that the Louisville, Ky., company continues understate its level of problem loans despite its recent claims that its allowance for loan losses is sufficient.

The aggressive Massachusetts bank shows there are multiple ways to grow, including acquisitions of banks and talent.

A Maryland bank is planning a $5 million initial public offering, while a Massachusetts mutual holding company is looking to take the second step in its conversion to become fully public.