Two U.S. banks have failed so far in 2026, continuing the recent pattern of smaller lenders collapsing abruptly due to firm-specific issues. January's failure of Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust and the early May failure of Community Bank & Trust – West Georgia both fit that mold.

Community Bank & Trust in Georgia, the second bank failure this year, shows what happens when bankers don't keep things simple.

The FDIC moved quickly on Friday to sell $288 million in assets Community Bank and Trust – West Georgia to Anchor Bank, but the sale announcement leaves the fate of $27 million in uninsured deposits to be determined. 

Banner Bank is poised to merge with Bank of the Pacific in an all-stock deal valued at $177 million. The two Washington-based commercial banks both have branches in Washington and Oregon.

BayFirst Financial in St. Petersburg named veteran Tampa-area banker Al Rogers as its CEO and announced an $80 million capital raise. The bank sold its SBA-lending business last year, but it's still struggling to work through problems in its legacy loan portfolio.

Miami's Ocean Bank appointed Yuni Navarro to its board of directors; Indiana-based Interra Credit Union announced it will acquire The Hicksville Bank in Ohio; JPMorganChase hired Chris Mihok from Keefe Bruyette and Woods; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The Japan-linked risk for banks is not the exchange rate itself but the funding, collateral and rollover pressure behind it. Sudden volatility in the foreign exchange market will rapidly cascade into U.S. Treasury markets.

The Spanish banking giant is seeing improvement in its U.S. business, which is set to expand significantly if its pending acquisition of Webster Financial gets approved.

Community banks' primary objection to the Main Street Depositor Protection Act appears to be that one provision of it would give credit union customers the same level of deposit protection as bank customers.

Banks have a narrow window to shape how agent identity verification works before transaction volumes force ad hoc approaches that will be harder to standardize later.

For the Denver-based parent company of Sunflower Bank, the first quarter of 2026 was not entirely sunny. Loans grew dramatically, but so did charge-offs, with the lender charging off two credits worth more than $10 million.

Celtic Bank is the latest large Small Business Administration lender to turn to an AI origination platform for smaller-dollar loans. Live Oak Bank, which has been piloting the same platform, says it's poised for big growth in the same segment.

There's been an onslaught of nonbank financial technology company charter applications and approvals already this year.

In order for artificial intelligence to be useful, it has to be powered by accurate information, three community-bank executives agreed at a virtual panel hosted by American Banker.

In evaluating Enova's proposed acquisition of Grasshopper Bancorp, regulators must decide whether to allow lending products with annual percentage rates of nearly 100% into the national banking system.

The deposit insurance reform bill would give credit unions an on-ramp to competing for commercial accounts. A better alternative would be to reactivate the Transaction Account Guarantee program as needed.

Bankruptcy filings rose 11.9% during the past 12 months, according to statistics from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; JPMorganChase named Jerry Lee and Nick Richitt as global co-heads of health care investment banking; Goldman Sachs appointed Akila Raman as global head of its private and alternatives capital markets business; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

A bank's regulatory posture is no longer fully within its own control. When a critical vendor becomes subject to new supervisory expectations, the bank's risk profile changes regardless of anything the bank itself has done.

The Columbus, Ohio-based company added to its cash hoard as a cushion against any economic dislocation connected to the conflict in the Middle East. The move narrowed Huntington's expected net interest margin for 2026.