The $1.5 billion-asset bank issued $25 million of subordinated notes due 2025 in a private placement. WashingtonFirst used the proceeds to redeem $8.9 million in SBLF preferred shares, which it issued to the Treasury Department in 2011.

Middlefield Banc Corp. in Middlefield, Ohio, has bought out its largest shareholder.

A group of private investors has agreed to buy Radius Bancorp in Boston.

Republic Bancorp in Louisville, Ky., has agreed to buy Cornerstone Bancorp in St. Petersburg, Fla.

MBT Bancorp in Monroe, Mich., is planning to close four branches. The $1.3 billion-asset company also said it would stop offering retail services at a corporate office in Wyandotte, Mich.

A pair of community banks have lined up funding through separate subordinated-debt agreements with a firm in the Cayman Islands.

Sunshine Bancorp in Plant City, Fla., has hired another former executive from the former Susquehanna Bancshares in Lititz, Pa.

Capital One Financial has allowed shareholders to nominate candidates to the company’s board of directors, joining a spate of large U.S. companies moving to open access to proxy ballots.

The pace of bank M&A deals slowed in the third quarter and was flat through the first nine months of this year.

A looming dividend spike tied to the Small Business Lending Fund convinced Hopewell Valley Community Bank in Pennington, N.J., to sell itself.

Synechron, a consulting firm to the financial services industry, has acquired Crossbridge, a London-based consulting firm.

Hancock Holding in Gulfport, Miss., has agreed to buy a portfolio of health care loans from United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga.

First Cecilian Bancorp in Cecilia, Ky., has agreed to buy Farmers Bancshares in Hardinsburg, Ky.

CenterState Banks in Davenport, Fla., has agreed to buy Community Bank of South Florida in Homestead.

The $210 billion-asset company said in a press release Friday that CRC Insurance Services, its wholesale insurance unit, would buy Connecticut Underwriters Inc. in Middletown.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended October 3.

Banc of California in Irvine has agreed to buy a Santa Ana office building for $77 million for its headquarters.

C1 Financial in St. Petersburg, Fla., is reportedly looking to sell itself.

BB&T in Winston-Salem, N.C., has agreed to acquire a stake in Miller Insurance Services, a Lloyd's market broker.

Foreign banks looking to buy a U.S. institution long faced tough scrutiny from the Federal Reserve, and the financial crisis has only made the process harder.