Branch deals

First Dakota National Bank in Yankton, S.D., has agreed to buy a branch from HF Financial in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin said Thursday that it has offered buyouts to nearly 20% of its employees and is closing six branches as part of its ongoing effort to improve efficiency.

CommunityOne Bancorp in Charlotte, N.C., has agreed to buy a branch in Lenoir, N.C., from CertusBank.

The $317 million-asset State Bank said in a press release Tuesday that it will sell the Yuma, Ariz., branch — along with $17 million in deposits and $18 million in loans — for roughly $750,000.

Sun Bancorp in Mount Laurel, N.J., has decided to sell another branch and consolidate nine others as part of the ongoing streamlining of its retail network.

Financial Institutions Inc. in Warsaw, N.Y., has filed to sell up to $100 million in debt and equity.

Banc of California in Irvine got a shot in the arm from its acquisition of 20 Popular Community Bank branches in the fourth quarter.

The $691 million-asset Howard will pay $10.1 million, or $5.09 a share, in cash and stock for the $226 million-asset Patapsco.

Regulators have shut Doral Bank, ending a tumultuous decade for the Puerto Rican bank. The $5.9 billion-asset Doral was the fourth bank to fail this year and the biggest bank to be closed since the $11 billion-asset Westernbank in Puerto Rico was shuttered in April 2010.

Taiwan Cooperative Bank has been cleared by the Federal Reserve Board to open a branch in New York.

Branch closings draw big headlines, but several large banks are entering new markets — or bulking up in underrepresented cities — by adding branches and hiring lenders. Bank of America, for instance, is planning a retail push in Denver and Minneapolis.

U.S. Bancorp in Minneapolis has appointed Amy Hurd as head of its in-store and on-site banking division.

Bank Mutual Corp. is planning to close seven branches in Wisconsin.

Sunshine Bancorp in Plant City, Fla., has agreed to buy Community Southern Holdings in Lakeland, Fla.

Revising the current control rules could give banks access to more capital from private equity, hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Anchor Bancorp in Madison, Wis., has agreed to sell one of its branches to Royal Bank in Elroy, Wis.

Citigroup plans to shed 60 branches as part of its ongoing restructuring, a number of which are said to be in California. It shopped some of the California branches last year, and it may again try to sell some of them.

Small banks aren't disappearing-they're just getting bigger. Meanwhile, their large competitors are exiting business lines and selling off units. These changes suggest that regulators would be better off issuing rules based on lenders' level of complexity, relieving institutions that operate by a core banking model of unnecessary burdens.

Valley National in Wayne, N.J., will use proceeds from a branch sale in New York City to offset costs tied to prepaying debt.

The $16.3 billion-asset UMB will pay $182.5 million in stock for the Marquette, which is owned by the Pohlad family. The acquisition, which values Marquette at 160% of its tangible book value, is expected to close in mid-2015.