Simmons First National (SFNC) in Pine Bluff, Ark., had the winning bid to buy Metropolitan National Bank during a bankruptcy auction.

Cardinal Financial Corp. (CFNL) has agreed to buy United Financial Banking (UFBC) for nearly $52 million. The two companies are in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington.

VIENNA, Va. – Navy FCU on Monday opened a branch inside a Safeway store in Germantown, Md., and may expand its grocery store presence.

ALBANY, N.Y. – SEFCU, New York’s seventh-largest credit union, is moving its headquarters to a former train station in downtown as part of a plan to redevelop the site.

UMB Financial (UMBF) in Kansas City, Mo., is planning a stock sale that could bring in as much as $257 million.

Dallas hedge fund Clover Partners is causing Texas-size headaches for two small Massachusetts thrifts, Hampden Bancorp and Chicopee Bancorp.

The House Majority Leader's failure to include mortgage finance reform in his legislative agenda for the fall has sparked more questions about whether Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Patrick McHenry and others can advance his legislation to the floor this year.

Bank of America will eliminate about 2,100 jobs and shutter 16 mortgage offices as rising interest rates weaken loan demand, said two people with direct knowledge of the plans.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago announced Monday it plans to issue mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended Sept. 7.

Capital Bank Financial in Coral Gables, Fla., has gone more than a year since its last acquisition — a common problem for M&A-minded banks these days. Its leaders urged shareholders to be patient in a sales pitch that other execs in the same bind could learn from.

JPMorgan Chase said it would stop accepting commissions from Assurant under a settlement reached Friday. The two firms have also agreed to pay up to $300 million to resolve allegations that they overbilled homeowners.

Umpqua Holdings, Oregon's biggest bank, is in advanced talks to buy Sterling Financial, the lender backed by Warburg Pincus and Thomas H. Lee Partners, said people with knowledge of the discussions.

TAMPA, Fla. – Fast-growing Grow Financial FCU announced today it is opening its first out-of-state branch this fall in Columbia, S.C., the first of 15 branches the $1.9 billion credit union plans for South Carolina.

Buttercoin wanted to be a Bitcoin exchange, but after being discouraged or outright rejected by over 76 financial institutions, it chose a different path.

Rising mortgage rates probably won't slow the housing recovery because new families are being created and homes are still affordable, Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Tim Sloan said.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has approved two Atlantic Coast Financial (ACFC) board nominees proposed by dissident investor Jay Sidhu.

JPMorgan Chase plans to elect two board members to replace the much-criticized directors who stepped down in July.

Reform of housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gained surprising momentum in recent months. But it's at risk of grinding to a halt as the Capitol Hill is consumed with Syria and the confirmation of a new Federal Reserve chairman. American Banker editors discuss the prospects for GSE legislation amid a packed and contentious legislative agenda.