While many of the nation's biggest banks provide live streams of their shareholders meetings, many midsize institutions do not. Investors are urging more institutions to webcast those gatherings, based on a belief that doing so will increase transparency.

Banks have rushed to the exits when it comes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt securities. Federal liquidity rules seem to be prompting big banks to do so, but why small banks are unloading the bonds, too, is more of a puzzler.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

The $3.8 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that Lynne Fox will succeed Noel Beasley, who decided to step down after retiring from the Workers United union.

Nicolet Bankshares in Green Bay, Wis., disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday that Robert Cera, who had shared the chairman, president and chief executive roles with Bob Atwell, was no longer at the company.

Radius Bank in Boston has recruited a team to lead a national push into Small Business Administration lending. Among the new hires is Diane Gallion, a former executive at The Bancorp in Delaware, who will be national director of government-guaranteed lending at Radius.

Middlefield Banc Corp. in Ohio has raised roughly $11 million through several stock offerings.

A number of banks have faced pressure from shareholders to ditch plurality voting, where directors can keep their seats even if they fail to receive majority support from investors.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge Thursday sentenced former Voyager Bank Chief Executive Timothy Owens to 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to obstructing a Federal Reserve examination of his institution.

Large enough to meet the needs of most customers yet small enough to escape some of the Dodd-Frank Act's most onerous compliance expenses, banks with assets of $2 billion to $10 billion are more profitable, as a group, than their smaller and larger counterparts, according to an analysis by Capital Performance Group.

Recent legislative proposals to make piecemeal changes to the government-sponsored enterprises could set broader GSE reform on the wrong path.

The $25 billion-asset subsidiary of First Horizon National said in a press release Wednesday that Louis Allen, executive vice president and manager of commercial banking for the bank's west Tennessee region, will be promoted to regional president June 30.

Fulton Financial in Lancaster, Pa., has hired Lynn Ozer as president of Small Business Administration lending. Before joining Fulton, Ozer led a small-business lending team at Susquehanna Bancshares that was largely dismissed after the company's sale to BB&T.

TCF Financial in Minnesota has launched a set of products targeting low-income customers. The company, which has closed a fifth of its branches in recent years, hopes underbanked clients will boost traffic at its remaining locations.

Shore Community Bank in Toms River, N.J., has called on some old friends to lead the board of directors.

Yadkin Financial, a North Carolina community bank, is exploring a sale and working with Sandler O'Neill & Partners to solicit offers, according to people familiar with the matter.

All five directors at Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida in Stuart were re-elected despite a protest vote from the company's biggest investor.

Mackinac Financial in Manistique, Mich., has agreed to buy Niagara Bancorp. in Niagara, Wis.

CenterState in Florida and Union Savings in Connecticut are adding specialists to their retail locations at a time when many other banks are cutting back or have been relying heavily on universal bankers.

RCB Bank in Claremore, Okla., has agreed to buy CornerBank in Winfield, Kan.