Capital

Heartland Bank had been operating under a regulatory order from the Fed since December.

In the coming year, bankers in Puerto Rico will need to keep an eye on how steep cuts in government spending will affect the island’s consumers, says José Rafael Fernández, CEO of OFG Bancorp.

Studio Bank aims to become the first de novo in Nashville in nearly a decade.

Former lawyer Kenneth Lehman will pay at least $10 million for a controlling stake in ABB Financial in Atlanta.

Home will add 12 branches and nearly $600 million in assets when it completes the acquisition.

In anticipation of future changes, bank regulators will allow all but the largest banks to avoid a planned phase-in of 2013 capital rules.

Post-election euphoria tamped down M&A talk as bankers were hopeful that reform would justify staying independent. But there are signs bankers are getting restless.

The $1.5 billion-asset company agreed to buy Southern Missouri Bancshares to expand into two strategically important markets.

The Alabama company agreed to buy FirstAtlantic Financial for $108 million.

Three years after guiding the Baltimore bank through bankruptcy, the group that recapitalized it found a similar institution eager to form a new partnership.

The Baltimore bank, which was on the brink of failure before a group recapitalized it, is selling itself to Howard Bancorp.

Like many banks its size, CenterState in Florida may need to venture out of state to find a big enough acquisition to make additional compliance costs worthwhile.

The Florida company will pay nearly $600 million to buy HCBF Holding and Sunshine Bancorp.

Triumph Bancorp in Dallas has successfully taken chances on out-of-state acquisitions, factoring and other nontraditional strategies that many of its peers have avoided.

The Texas company agreed to buy Liberty Bancshares on the same day it completed its purchase of the $1 billion-asset Sovereign Bancshares.

The ranks of mutually owned banks are in decline. Survivors say sharper marketing, better access to capital and lower barriers to entry could stop the bleeding.

The company will pay $51 million for Bank of Napa, adding two branches and nearly $250 million in assets.

Rising taxes, declining population and the political landscape in Illinois have led several bankers to put more money and resources into nearby states.

The company agreed to buy County First Bank in a cash-and-stock transaction.

The agency’s new classification of “initial coin offerings” is yet another affront to the efforts by fledgling companies to raise funds.