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Pinnacle Financial Partners in Nashville, Tenn., has agreed to buy Avenue Financial Holdings in Nashville.

United Bankshares in Charleston, W.Va., reported an uptick in fourth-quarter profit as lower expenses offset lower average yields on earning assets.

Randolph Bancorp in Stoughton, Mass., plans to convert from a mutual thrift to a stock-owned bank. The $386 million-asset company will hold an initial public offering as part of its conversion, it said Tuesday.

The Minnesota company's management team expressed confidence in its ability to monitor risk, even as companies such as BB&T and Fifth Third issue warnings over pricing and returns.

The company knew it would soon expand outside of Michigan, but management thought it might buy a $2 billion-asset bank based in Indiana. Talmer Bancorp was much bigger than that and it instead offered opportunity in Ohio.

By selling its community banking products to Fiserv, ACI has signaled it is no longer interested is no longer interested in that space. Fiserv, meanwhile, is beefing up its small-institution offerings.

Presidential candidates' arguments to stop the Federal Reserve from paying interest on banks' excess reserves betray a poor understanding of monetary policy and why the Fed began the practice. Here's why.

The former president of a Texas community bank was sentenced to two years in federal prison for manipulating the bank's books and embezzling money to pay her daughter's sorority dues.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is reducing the mortgage insurance premiums it charges on Federal Housing Administration multifamily loans to encourage the renovation of affordable housing units and promote energy-efficient upgrades.

East West Bancorp in Pasadena, Calif., said higher income taxes and lower interest income were partly to blame for a 3.87% drop, to $91.8 million, in its fourth-quarter profit.

Unless banks devote the same amount of investment as standalone incubators, the innovation labs launched by financial institutions will be a short-term fad.

C.K. Hong used his resignation letter to issue a scathing rebuke of the Los Angeles company's $1 billion acquisition, while claiming that he had been on a "dysfunctional board … characterized by factionalism and a lack of transparency." BBCN strongly disagreed, claiming that Hong was upset that plans were already in place to remove him from the board.

First Citizens BancShares in Raleigh, N.C., said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit fell 32.1% from a year earlier, to $42.7 million.

Kevin Thompson, who had been selected for the post in November, notified the $6 billion-asset company that he will remain at Zions Bancorp. in Salt Lake City to be near members of his immediate family who were involved an accident shortly after he accepted the WSFS post.

Umpqua Holdings in Portland, Ore., posted stronger quarterly earnings because of an increase in mortgage banking fees and lower costs.

Centrue Financial in Ottawa, Ill., has agreed to sell three branches in Illinois.

Amid concerns about the added complexity of the TILA-Respa integrated disclosures and growing demand for purchase loans, Flagstar Bancorp plans to reduce its over-reliance on third-party originations by expanding its retail mortgage business.

The combination of falling stock prices, higher-risk strategies and signs of worsening credit quality does not bode well for the industry's road ahead.

Bank executives have faced relentless questions about their energy-sector exposure during fourth-quarter earnings calls this month, as oil has bobbed above and below $30 a barrel. They are taking more drastic actions to contain losses, but it still might not be enough.