Simplicity Bancorp's experience with mortgage servicing could give banks a reason to reconsider plans to ditch the business despite concerns about new regulations.

The American Bankers Association has formed a group to lobby on behalf of rural lenders.

Southwest Bancorp in Stillwater, Okla., has redeemed a series of trust-preferred securities.

Community Valley Bank in El Centro, Calif., has hired a new chief executive.

NCAL Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to a recapitalization that would give it new ownership.

The third quarter is nearly over, and the news from the trenches is bad. Loan demand is weak. Mortgage volatility caught many bankers off guard. And the only way to make a buck is to buy or sell assets, executives said at the recent Barclays Global Financial Services Conference in New York, the American Mortgage Conference in Raleigh, N.C., and elsewhere.

Cortland Bancorp in Ohio is exiting the wholesale-mortgage business.

Old Line Bancshares in Bowie, Md., has raised $12 million through a private placement.

Larry Uhlick will retire as chairman of the Birmingham, Ala., company's bank on Sept. 30. BBVA Compass also said in a press release Monday that Manolo Sanchez, the bank's president and chief executive, will succeed Uhlick.

SB Financial (SBFG) in Defiance, Ohio, has filed a shelf registration that would allow it to raise up to $30 million over the next three years.

The acquisition-minded Heritage Financial and Washington Banking are said to be seeking targets to nearly double their size, motivated in part by the recent Umpqua-Sterling deal.

Activist investor Lawrence Seidman is pressuring OBA Financial Services to find a buyer, saying its poor asset growth, lagging efficiency and "abysmal" returns on average assets and average equity make it necessary.

J. Michael Cline will retire from his position as president and CEO role at the end of 2013, the $265 million-asset company announced Monday.

First Citizens Banc Corp (FCZA) in Sandusky, Ohio, plans to raise up to $25 million to redeem shares it originally issued as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has filed more lawsuits against the directors and officers of failed financial institutions in 2013 than in any year since the recession, according to a Cornerstone Research report released Monday.

The financial lure of credit cards has become increasingly hard to resist for regional banks that exited the business several years ago.

King Bancshares in in Kingman, Kan., has merged its consumer finance unit, Western Credit, into its Citizens Bank of Kansas.

Banc of California (BANC) in Irvine has acquired the investment advisory firm Palisades.

Hampden Bancorp sent a letter to shareholders urging them to reject as board members two candidates proposed by Clover Group, a Dallas hedge fund that controls about 6.8% of Hampden's voting rights.

NewDominion Bank in Charlotte, N.C., has promised to decide on applications for certain commercial loans within three days, or pay $3,000 toward closing, in hopes of speeding its own recovery.