A cybersecurity assessment tool designed to help bankers bolster their defenses against hackers and other cybercriminals is continuing to sow confusion among bankers, with some arguing it is effectively imposing tougher standards on the industry.

Horizon Bancorp in Michigan City, Ind., has agreed to buy Kosciusko Financial in Mentone, Ind.

Commercial BancGroup in Harrogate, Tenn., has agreed to buy NBN Corp. in Newport, Tenn., outbidding a rival in a bankruptcy court auction.

TCF Financial in Wayzata, Minn., will close 33 branches inside Jewel-Osco stores in the Chicago area.

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.

Several bankers left a high-profile meeting with the Financial Accounting Standards Board feeling more comfortable with a plan to change reserve accounting. The meeting was thrown into an abrupt recess after a FASB director and a bank lobbyist clashed over recent statements by FASB's chairman linking community banks to the financial crisis.

A number of bankers used quarterly earnings calls to assure investors that they are carefully monitoring their exposure to commercial real estate at a time when regulators are expressed concern about eroding underwriting standards.

First Resource Bank in Exton, Pa., has received federal regulatory approval to exit the Small Business Lending Fund program.

A former BBCN Bancorp director said that four of the Los Angeles company’s 13 directors did not vote for its purchase of Wilshire Bancorp.

It is outside the realm of possibility for bitcoin's blockchain to serve any useful purpose for the intermediaries it was designed to replace.

As community banks need to make their budgets stretch further, some are looking to vendor consolidation as a way to gain a competitive edge through fewer IT headaches and a more uniform customer experience.

A pair of directors at Malvern Bancorp in Paoli, Pa., have resigned just days after a large investor refused to support their re-election.

Here are the most common mistakes that would-be financial services disruptors make on their way to trying to execute a great idea and business plan.

Atlantic Capital Bancshares in Atlanta has formed a lending division to focus on the emerging film and entertainment industry in Georgia.

Katie Lorenson will join the $3 billion-asset company on Aug. 31, when CFO Gary Ortale plans to retire.

The industry's rapid change is shining a spotlight on middle and senior managers who inherit positions and often have to fix the messes — while maintaining the successes — of their predecessors.

A pair of former BBCN directors said they resigned due to issues with the company's corporate governance and the leadership of Chairman and CEO Kevin Kim. BBCN claims the directors, who voted against its planned acquisition of Wilshire Bancorp, resigned after they were informed of plans to remove them from the board.

Allegiance Bancshares in Houston has sold two branches to Incommons Bank in Mexia, Texas.

Eastern Bank has hired the Massachusetts market president of Citizens Bank, Quincy Miller, to be its chief banking officer.

Horizon Bancorp in Michigan City, Ind., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund program.