Bridgewater Bancshares agreed to acquire First Minnetonka Bancorp. in an all-cash transaction slated to close in the fourth quarter. It would create a nearly $5 billion-asset bank.

The top executive at Royal Bank of Canada expressed reluctance about expanding south of the border again, citing what he characterized as a changing regulatory landscape and pointing to lessons learned from the 2015 acquisition of City National Bank.

Challenger bank OakNorth plans to kick its marketing into higher gear. Its desired endgame in the U.S. is a banking charter and it's open to an acquisition to help get it there.

The $23 million cash transaction boosts Old Second's presence in its home Windy City market, while marking Muncie, Indiana-based First Merchants' exit from Illinois.

The combination, expected to close next year, would create a regional bank with $17 billion of deposits across 10 states.

The North Carolina-based bank doubled in size in 2022 and again last year, when it acquired the failed Silicon Valley Bank. It has used consistency to outperform peers.

U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union said it plans to acquire Southwest Capital Bank in a transaction slated to close next year. It would help the buyer expand its cannabis banking operation.

The planned Bay State deal comes two months after the Minneapolis-based Thrivent said it plans to merge a credit union it controls into a new industrial bank.

The overall size of the combined entity is trivial compared to industry behemoths. It is evident the benefits to consumers from the Capital One-Discover merger dramatically exceed the speculated harms that caution against it.

A Northwest credit union announced plans this week to buy a community bank, lifting the 2024 total of such deals to 13 and putting the year on track to set a record. The all-time annual high of 16 was set in 2022.

The Chicago-area bank closed the fifth-largest deal announced this year in a matter of months. It may bode well for M&A, as several big transactions have been announced in 2024.

Specialized Portfolio Servicing's sale resolves questions about it that arose when UBS bought the troubled Credit Suisse last year.

KeyCorp wasn't seeking capital but saw the benefits of Scotiabank's minority stake. The deal would enable the Canadian lender to step into the U.S. consumer market.

The pace of deal activity in 2024 is ahead of a year earlier, thanks in large part to summer momentum and a spate of all-stock deals. But an early August market rout created a new hurdle for dealmaking in the second half of the year.

The parent company of Fulton Bank announced the creation of three new management roles and promoted existing employees into those jobs. The changes follow the recent hiring of an outsider to be CFO.

The resurgence of the syndicated loan market signals a pendulum swing back to greater reliance by debt issuers on traditional bank financing.

When banks realize they are unable to continue their operations, a credit union is often a natural partner to consider.

The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index was up 18% year to date through July, supporting expectations for more banks to use their shares as currency to take out competitors.

Despite the continuing trends of consolidation and limited startup activity, bankers and industry insiders say there is a path forward. But small lenders must evolve with changing technology.

The five largest bank M&A deals had an average deal value of more than $1.2 billion.