Woodforest National Bank in Woodlands, Texas, has promoted Julie Mayrant to president of its retail operations, according to a news report.

Naugatuck Valley Financial in Connecticut has added Orville Aarons as a director. Aarons is president of O. Aarons & Co., an investment bank, and had been a chief lending officer at The Community's Bank.

Kind words by Stewart McClure, the head of Somerset Hills Bancorp, for Kevin Cummings, the CEO of rival Investors Bancorp, are part of a mutual admiration society budding in New Jersey banking.

Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF) reached a legal settlement with PL Capital over a requirement that the outside investor said wrongly benefited management.

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The ABA is raising concerns about a credit union's potential plans to change its field of membership from just Lutherans to serve all Christian denominations.

Terminations of bank deals have dramatically slowed since 2009, when a third of the announced deals were called off. Still, buyers should give regulators a heads-up and leave ample time to finalize details.

Dodd-Frank repealed the ban on paying interest on business checking accounts. No longer necessary to circumvent that restriction, sweep accounts with overnight repos can still protect and retain high-balance depositors.

U.S. Bancorp's (USB) wealth management arm is adding advisors on Florida's Gulf Coast, mostly from large rivals.

Improved asset quality and a surge in mortgage lending powered HomeStreet Bank (HMST) in Seattle to record earnings in 2012.

TrustAtlantic Bank has agreed to buy a branch from fellow North Carolina lender Harrington Bank.

Identify the megabanks' overpriced products and services, the customers they can't or won't serve. Use outside infrastructure to adapt quickly. B of A, Citi and other financial services oligopolists are highly vulnerable to competition.

Sections of Dodd-Frank and the JOBS Act have made allowances for certain community banks but, whether by design or oversight, have left small thrifts to fend for themselves.

First National Bank and Trust in Newtown, Pa., has given its president the additional title of chief executive.

Net interest margins continued to come under pressure in the fourth quarter. Net interest income, aided by loan growth, held up better.

A unit of Palmetto Bancshares in Greenville, S.C., has shed an enforcement order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

What they lack in deep pockets, small banks often make up for in agility and a willingness to try new technologies. Bank Technology News presents the top community bank IT projects of 2012.

Promontory Interfinancial Network is adding Bank Assetpoint to its suite of products, a service designed to be a one-stop shop for bankers and real estate investors to exchange loans and REO.

U.S. Century Bank, the nation's largest undercapitalized bank, is close to a deal that would give a controlling stake to local investors.

The $4.4 billion-asset company in Indiana, Pa., said Friday that it has named Fred Morelli Jr., a business advisor, and Frank Palermo Jr., a certified public accountant, directors.