West Bancorp. (WTBA) in Des Moines, Iowa, is taking advantage of low interest rates to buy back a chunk of its stock.

The banking unit of FNB United in Asheboro, N.C., has been freed from a regulatory order and has completed its integration of the Bank of Granite.

Meta Financial Group (CASH) in Sioux Falls, S.D., plans to raise up to $20 million by selling common stock.

Deloitte Corporate Finance has acquired McColl Partners, a middle-market investment bank founded by retired Bank of America Chief Executive Hugh McColl.

Union First Market Bankshares in Richmond, Va., has agreed to acquire StellarOne in Charlottesville, Va.

Wilshire Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy BankAsiana in Palisades Park, N.J.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed the $437.3 million-asset Mountain National Bank in Sevierville, Tenn., on Friday.

Big banks grab headlines with large commitments to small businesses but, when compared total assets, many community banks are setting the pace.

Loan yields are still healthy relative to funding costs. It’s the pileup of low-rate bonds on bank balance sheets that has crimped profit margins.

Shareholders who hoped proxy firms ISS and Glass Lewis would help them decide on Bond Street's controversial $5-per-share offer for Atlantic Coast Financial in Florida are out of luck: ISS says "aye," while Glass Lewis says "nay."

A crackdown on payday lending looks increasingly likely and risks sending low-income consumers in search unregulated financing options on the Internet and abroad. That threat is a key topic of discussion at American Banker’s Underbanked Financial Services Forum, which wraps up Friday in Miami. National Editor Maria Aspan reports from the event.

Texas State Bankshares in Harlingen has agreed to buy Border Capital Group in McAllen in a merger of South Texas lenders.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. exercised its powers to appoint itself the receiver to circumvent a judge's ruling that barred Nevada regulators from closing a tiny bank belonging to Capitol Bancorp.

Taylor Capital Group in Chicago has hired a new chief compliance officer for Cole Taylor Bank.

Waterstone Financial (WSBF) in Wauwatosa, Wis., is planning a second-step conversion.

Lowering overhead (relative to assets) would be a powerful motivator for a bank to get big, fast. But the savings just aren't there.

Ed Hale, who retired as chairman and CEO of First Mariner in Baltimore more than a year ago, has invested in a local technology consulting firm called Think Systems.

The Small Business Administration is making more money available for programs that encourage investment in early-stage companies and low-income communities.

First PacTrust Bancorp in Irvine, Calif., is planning to raise more than $40 million through a sale of preferred shares.

The industry is up in arms over a proposal that would require banks to disclose in call reports specific sources of fee revenue. In question is whether the mandate would improve oversight of safety and soundness or instead is aimed at furthering the policy agenda of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and consumer advocates.