Capital

American Banker predicted these five bankers would make news. Several delivered, mostly with small, strategic deals and finding ways to make money in spite of challenging conditions.

Add Investar Holding in Baton Rouge, La., to the growing list of community banks filing shelf registrations.

Sussex Bancorp in Rockaway, N.J., has raised $15 million by selling fixed- to floating-rate subordinated notes to an institutional investor. It did not name the investor.

Regulators have warned about the dangers of high commercial real estate concentrations despite bankers' assertions that they are managing risk better than they did before the financial crisis. Still, CRE concerns could influence M&A and loan diversification in 2017.

Equity Bancshares in Wichita, Kan., has raised $35.4 million in a common stock offering and plans to use the proceeds to pay down a line of credit and support growth.

Prosperity Bancshares in Houston filed a shelf registration to sell a variety of shares.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial in Bedminster, N.J., has filed a shelf registration statement to sell as much as $100 million in securities.

City Holding in Charleston, W.Va., is looking to raise up to $55 million in a stock offering.

Ameris Bancorp in Georgia wanted to buy a premium-finance business but settled for a joint venture, blessed by its regulators, after being flagged for insufficient Bank Secrecy Act compliance.

The banking system ultimately needs a balanced approach to capital, which allows banks to efficiently function while also maintaining financial stability.

Ameris Bancorp in Moultrie, Ga., has entered into a consent order with regulators tied to the Bank Secrecy Act.

Barclays is preparing to tell 7,000 clients to do more trading with the firm or find another bank, the latest move in an industrywide trend of winnowing down customer lists to the ones that produce significant profits.

Pacific Metro Bank would cater to Chinese-Americans around Atlanta. The application process is worth watching since the group is seeking the first Georgia charter in seven years and would be based in a market where more than 90 banks have failed since 2007.

The $14.3 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that it will sell about 4.3 million shares of common stock.

Colony Bankcorp in Fitzgerald, Ga., has bought back more of its former Troubled Asset Relief Program shares held by private investors.

Ed Francis, a former executive at Hancock Holding, is seeking to buy an existing bank rather than pursue a new charter. He explains why he is prefers a complex bankruptcy process over applying to form a new bank.

First Internet Bancorp in Fishers, Ind., disclosed in a regulatory filing that it is looking to raise $25 million capital through a stock offering.

Renasant in Tupelo, Miss., is the latest bank in the Deep South to announced a large stock offering.

Flushing Financial in Uniondale, N.Y., has raised $75 million by selling subordinated notes.

ConnectOne Bancorp in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is looking to raise at least $35 million through a stock offering.