Banking

The $2.1 billion-asset People will pay $12.6 million in cash and stock for the $91 million-asset Midwest in a transaction that is expected to close by mid-2014. Midwest also has $61 million in loans and $79 million in deposits.

FNB Corp. (FNB) in Hermitage, Pa., posted slightly lower earnings in the fourth quarter as its acquisitions of Annapolis Bancorp (ANNB) and PVF Capital (PVC) boosted expenses.

ConnectOne is a busy lender but light on deposits, while Center Bancorp has a low loan-to-deposit ratio. The combined company will stand a better chance at organic loan growth in the future. More deals like it are coming as banks look to a more robust lending environment in the next few years.

Wells Fargo (WFC) has forbidden its employees from participating in peer-to-peer lending, according to a Monday report in the Financial Times.

The Southeastern companies used the fourth quarter to record several one-time expenses that dinged their bottom lines. Still, observers detected strength in their core results.

It's been roughly a decade since Target executives ended their attempts to convert to EMV-chip payment cards to improve security. After a massive breach of magnetic-stripe card data, it seems they have changed their minds yet again.

Wincor Nixdorf, a provider of IT solutions and services to retail banks, announced in a release Tuesday several new technologies it is set to release at its 2014 trade fair, Wincor World, spanning Tuesday to Thursday.

The $22.4 billion-asset company reported a profit of $64.3 million, or $1.34 per share, a 28% increase from the same quarter in 2012.

Arrow Financial (AROW) in Glens Falls, N.Y., posted higher earnings in the fourth quarter as it benefited from lower expenses related interest-earning deposits.

First Citizens Banc Corp (FCZA) in Sandusky, Ohio, is planning to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Community National Bank in Derby, Vt., has promoted Kathryn Austin to chief operating officer. She will continue as executive vice president in charge of retail banking at Community National and its parent, Community Bancorp.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, announced Tuesday that he will run for governor of Louisiana in 2015.

We recently grilled mobile app designer Greg Nudelman on what banks should be doing differently with their mobile banking apps.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland has reset its governance boards for the year, including naming Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) Chief Executive Kevin Kabat as a director.

Charmian Uy, the U.S. Treasury's chief investment officer for the Trouble Asset Relief Program, details the government's strategy to exit a program that she believes "will be judged favorably over time."

Several more banks have disclosed financial hits because they hold securities that regulators declined to exempt from the Volcker Rule. Many of the bankers are upset because they are taking impairment charges on performing securities.

Valley National Bancorp. announced Tuesday a five-year restructuring plan in which it will modernize many of its 204 bank branches.

Third Point LLC, the hedge-fund firm led by billionaire Daniel Loeb, has become one of Ally Financial Inc.'s largest shareholders as the U.S. government reduces its stake in the company.

This is 2014, not 2008. The problem is not subprime mortgage lenders, but a pendulum of federal regulation that has swung to such an extreme that worthy, qualified borrowers are being turned away.

McAllen, Texas police have arrested two people from Monterrey, Mexico that the local cops say were in possession of fake credit cards made with information obtained from the Target data breach.