These banks have outperformed industry averages for years and continued to do so in 2012, avoiding the exceptional losses that often follow exceptional returns.

Banks must take a stand against a shattered culture or suffer the repercussions of a fractured chain of command, reduced productivity, high employee turnover, weak customer service and poor work quality.

Banking associations are mounting another push to keep the Senate from voting on a bill to raise the cap on credit union business lending.

Regulators released new details on how they will enforce restrictions on charter swaps by troubled banks writes American Banker's Joe Adler.

StoneCastle Cash Management, an investment adviser that provides funding solutions for community banks, is buying a listing service for buyers and sellers of certificates of deposit.

Margin pressure, regulatory hurdles and intense competition will test the nation's smallest banks next year, industry experts predict. Those issues could lead to a resurgence of consolidation among community banks.

An increased cap would almost certainly lead large institutions, hungry for short-term profits, to take greater risks that they are ill-equipped to handle.

Regulators released new details on how they will enforce restrictions on charter swaps by troubled banks.

Some banks are looking past the short-term economic challenges and betting on a small-business recovery. Here's how executives from Bank of America, PNC, U.S. Bancorp and others assessed the market at SourceMedia's recent Small-Business Banking conference.

Take care of your management team last, not the other way around. Vet new ideas through risk management and audit committees, not the marketing and sales department. Manage incentive compensation around risk-adjusted performance metrics.

The president and chief executive of Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB) in Maine will retire in June. Joseph M. Murphy has held those positions at the company and its Bar Harbor Bank & Trust unit since 2002.

Taylor Capital, Standard Bancshares and Community Financial Services are in the process of raising $260 million, prompting calls that the consolidation of still overbanked Chicago will heat up next year.

National Mortgage Insurance, which is based in Emeryville, Calif., said the state's insurance department has approved its application to sell insurance in the Golden State.

Whether it's Warren Buffett's latest views on taxes or his missives to shareholders, market watchers hang on the billionaire's every word. His company Berkshire Hathaway's big stakes in Wells Fargo, Bank of America and American Express have spoken loudly about whom he favors in banking. Click to view highlights of his long, sometimes bumpy, history with banks.

Lingering credit issues and a lengthy CEO search had led some industry observers to wonder if the Mississippi bank might sell itself. The decision to hire the former president of a successful Texas bank might put those rumors to rest.

Community banks in energy-rich North Dakota are having to get regulators' approval to buy houses for their employees, who can no longer afford to live there.

Southside Bancshares (SBSI) in Tyler, Texas, will open two branches in Austin, Texas, next year.

Small banks have long seemed best able to cultivate small-business customers because they could offer a more personal touch, and now big banks are increasingly trying to replicate their success.

Bankers should be a resource for their communities beyond making loans and sponsoring little league teams. Here are a few fresh ways to get involved.