Beth Mooney at Key and Joseph Ficalora at New York Community Bancorp recently upset shareholders with big acquisitions. Industry observers believe investors should slowly warm up to deals as a strategic alternative to generous dividends and share buybacks.

Dave McKay, the president and CEO of Royal Bank of Canada, has spent much of his time as head of the second-largest Canadian bank plotting the acquisition of the coveted $36 billion-asset City National in Los Angeles. Now he has to execute on a strategy of cross-selling products to affluent customers of both banks while expanding geographically.

WSB Bancshares in Wellington, Texas, has agreed to buy XIT Bancshares in Littlefield, Texas.

CNB Bancshares in Sevierville, Tenn., plans to buy National Bank of Tennessee, after the Newport, Tenn., bank's holding company files for bankruptcy.

The chief executive of First Capital Bancorp in Glen Allen, Va., plans to resign, about a month after the company agreed to sell itself.

F&M Bancshares in Trezevant, Tenn., has agreed to buy Medina Banking in Medina, Tenn. The $308 million-asset F&M Bancshares said in a press release that it expects the transaction to close early next year.

The $3.9 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that Bernard Clineberg, 66, will step down as president and chief executive in January. Christopher Bergstrom, Cardinal’s chief credit officer and chief risk officer, will succeed Clineberg as acting president and CEO. Clineberg will remain the company’s chairman.

First National Corp. in Strasburg, Va., will redeem about $14.6 million of preferred stock that was originally issued through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Chippewa Valley Bank in Winter, Wis., has agreed to buy most of the assets of State Bank of Drummond in Drummond, Wis.

CIT Group is weighing spinning off its aircraft-leasing business as the commercial lender seeks to simplify operations and focus more on the U.S., Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.

BlackRock has agreed to purchase an $87 billion money-market fund business from Bank of America as it builds scale in an industry grappling with new regulations.

BlackRock's cash-management business has agreed to manage about $87 billion in assets for Bank of America clients as it seeks to build scale in an industry grappling with money-market fund regulations.

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida in Stuart has agreed to buy Floridian Financial Group in Lake Mary.

October was one of the best months in recent memory in terms of the number of deals and their aggregate value. If that pace continues, 2015 would be the strongest year for bank M&A since the financial crisis.

Southcoast handled its sale in way that truly resembled a reality dating show, whittling a list of 28 suitors down to three finalists. BNC Bancorp in North Carolina succeeded in landing the deal after its presentation won over Southcoast's board.

Bank of America has agreed to pay $335 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it misled shareholders about risky mortgages and its dependence on the electronic mortgage registry known as MERS.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended October 31.

Atlantic Capital Bancshares in Atlanta sold $25 million in capital to help fund its purchase of First Security Group in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The company recently created a collateralized-debt obligation backed by bank debt, bringing to mind the types of structured investments that plagued smaller banks a few years ago. This time, StoneCastle will hold all the credit risk, instead of selling it off to banks. The CDOs are backed by relatively straightforward sub debt rather than hybrid securities.

M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y., has completed its acquisition of Hudson City Bancorp in Paramus, N.J., putting to rest a deal that had been announced more than three years earlier.