Community West Bancshares Inc. in Goleta, Calif., is closing its four out-of state Small Business Administration lending offices as part of a broad restructuring plan aimed at reducing risk and improving the company's overall health.

After more than 25 years as national bank, Equity Bank in Andover, Kan., is switching to a state charter.

First Community Bancshares Inc. in Bluefield, Va., is bulking up in the Richmond market with a deal to acquire the $286 million-asset Peoples Bank in Virginia for about $40.6 million in cash and stock.

GFA Federal Credit Union of Gardener, Mass., has agreed to acquire Monadnock Community Bank, a troubled former credit union located in nearby Peterborough, N.H., in the second credit union deal for a bank over the past few months.

One has to admire the tenacity of the credit union lobby. Once again, a handful of very large credit unions are putting pressure on Congressional officials to pass legislation that will increase credit unions' business lending authority from 12.5 percent of their total assets to 27.5 percent. The commercial banking industry has fought off similar attempts for such expansion in previous Congressional sessions and we are working hard to do so once again.

General Motors Co. said Thursday it signed a deal to offer dealer and consumer financing through Wells Fargo & Co. in GM's U.S. Western region, another potential threat for Ally Financial Inc.

A decision by a Georgia judge this week raised new obstacles in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s claims against former managers of the failed Integrity Bank.

Rich trading multiples for banking companies like Prosperity in Houston make accretive acquisitions relatively simple. Institutions with such powerful stock currencies are few, however.

The slow M&A market gives the Pennsylvania bank little choice but to digest its two acquisitions and wait for conditions to improve, CEO Reuter says.

Sen. Richard Durbin on Thursday blasted Bank of America following a report that the firm is weighing new fees for certain checking account holders.

Community banks are warning Congress that allowing interest to be paid on such accounts will help large banks and hurt local communities, but they appear to be gaining little traction.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said new deposit fee restrictions have compelled the New York company to shy away from building new branches in lower-income areas.

The Blackstone Group has converted some of its shares in BankUnited Inc. into non-voting stock in a move that should allow its own chief executive' to keep his personal financials private.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is embarking on an ambitious study to better understand community banks. It doing so, it's looking beyond the traditional measure — size.

Beach Business Bank recently agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against it by shareholders corralled by a law firm specializing in litigation tied to acquisitions. Those types of investigations used to be reserved for larger deals but are quickly becoming a mainstay as consolidation picks up.

Bank of America's long-running tests to revamp the pricing of its checking accounts have landed it back in the spotlight.

For small merchants who want to accept mobile transactions, Apple makes the go-to machines, the iPad and the iPhone. But Apple has some company: Google is cultivating the same market for its Android devices.

Young consumers don't buy in to bank ads on hip entertainment sites, a new survey shows. Banks do better marketing on education sites that fit their serious image.

Bank of the Carolinas Corp. in Mocksville, N.C., will be delisted from the Nasdaq after failing to maintain a market value of publicly traded shares of at least $5 million.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Fueled by higher bank fees and the Bank Transfer Day movement, credit unions scored some of their biggest membership gains ever in the second half of 2011, NCUA reported this morning.