Capital markets

Ratings firms and mutual funds are seeing greater value in community banks because of their simplicity and local connections.

BBVA Compass said on Wednesday that it was partnering with the broker-dealer Brean Capital to offer a variety of capital and investment banking services for community banks and correspondent banks.

The Birmingham, Ala., bank also saw lending decline in the quarter as strategic reductions in certain business lending lines offset gains in C&I and consumer.

As part of a capital-formation bill, House lawmakers are attempting to sprinkle in a handful of provisions to ease the industry’s burden.

With the recent focus on capital formation bills, lawmakers appear to be putting their Dodd-Frank angst aside.

Spirit Community Bank would be the first new bank in North Carolina since 2009.

County Bancorp in Manitowoc, Wis., posted record profits in the first quarter after completing an acquisition last year.

Beacon Community Bank, which opened in January, raised $34 million through a private placement.

The Renton, Wash., company, which has acquired or opened nine branches since 2015, has filed a shelf registration to raise the funds through the sale of various securities.

The California company ended up selling 1 million more shares than it had originally planned to offer.