Once the Puerto Rican company repays its Tarp funds, management will focus on growing in New York and south Florida. The company also hopes to benefit from any improvement in the Puerto Rican economy.

The company is suing Basswood Capital, claiming the activist hedge fund unlawfully accumulated a large stake by violating a confidentiality agreement. It also claims that Basswood's meddling resulted in a subpar capital raise last month.

Chesapeake Bank & Trust in Chestertown, Md., has begun searching for a new chief executive.

Union Savings Bank in Ridgefield, Conn., kept sponsoring its local symphony even during the recession when a lot of businesses cut back on giving to the arts.

Hovde Group in Chicago has hired two former Sandler O'Neill research analysts to lead its equity research group.

OmniAmerican (OABC) had a good problem earlier this year: competing offers from eager buyers. The Texas bank, which accepted a slightly smaller price from Southside Bancshares (SBSI), explained its reasoning in a regulatory filing. Here are the highlights.

Popular Inc. (BPOP) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has received regulatory approval to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Financial Services Roundtable CEO Tim Pawlenty discusses how banks can better sell themselves to new, young professionals, and how financial services firms are going to increasingly resemble technology companies.

Chemical Financial (CHFC) in Midland, Mich., expects to raise $70 million through the sale of common stock.

Meridian Bank Texas in Fort Worth has acquired State Bank & Trust in Carrolton, Texas.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is calling on the White House to select a nominee to the Federal Reserve Board with community banking experience.

Six directors resigned after the company contested an activist investor's successful effort to wrest board control. As a court battle looms and regulators watch, the company could struggle to find replacement directors.

Most people agree there are too many branches, but when a recent research report suggested exactly how many (lots) each bank should cut, bankers circled the wagons.

ViewPoint Financial Group in Plano, Texas, has pushed back the expected closing date for its purchase of LegacyTexas Group, citing a lengthy regulatory approval process.

Allpoint, the global surcharge-free ATM network operated by Cardtronics, will begin to accept check and cash deposits at more than 2,500 U.S. locations by the end of 2014.

Alfred DelliBovi, the former chief executive of Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, will join the board of Flushing Financial Corporation (FFIC) in Lake Success, N.Y.

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania in Souderton has agreed to buy Valley Green Bank in Mount Airy, Pa.

Highlands Bankshares (HBKA) in Abingdon, Va., has registered nearly $18 million in common and preferred stock for certain shareholders, directors and executives.

Forcht Bancorp in Lexington, Ky., has agreed to buy Grant County Bancorp of Williamstown, Ky. Financial terms of Forcht's agreement to buy the $79 million-asset Grant Country Bancorp were not disclosed.

Federal regulators have fined First Southern Bank (FSOF) in Boca Raton, Fla., for violating the National Flood Insurance Act.