Oriental Financial Group in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is looking to raise $36 million of common equity.

Heritage Financial (HFWA) is buying Northwest Commercial Bank of Lakewood, Wash.

Slavie Federal Savings Bank in Bel Air, Md., is taking steps to shore up its regulatory capital.

Mortgage lenders get clarity from Fannie and Freddie; Capital One CEO fears competition from mobile players; former IndyMac CEO fights the SEC.

FirstMerit will have to spend major investor equity to buy struggling Citizens Republic, but its shares are strong enough to afford the deal and the fit would be that good, FirstMerit CEO Paul Greig says.

Panelists at American Banker's Regulatory Symposium, including Eagle Bancorp CEO Ronald Paul, fear that small banks could lose deposits to bigger competitors if the program ends.

Level One Bancorp in Farmington Hills, Mich., has found its next growth opportunity with a deal to buy a struggling 128-year-old bank.

Banks will not regain the public's trust with good marketing, PNC chief executive officer James Rohr tells American Banker's Regulatory Symposium.

Cadence Bancorp has entered San Antonio after hiring a group of lenders from International Bancshares.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will not include a 20% down payment requirement for low-risk loans in its pending mortgage proposal, nor does it seek to covertly rewrite Dodd-Frank, Director Richard Cordray told Senate Banking.

The agency said Wednesday that it recouped roughly $149 million from selling preferred stock in Alpine Banks of Colorado in Glenwood Springs; Yadkin Valley Financial (YAVY) in Elkin, N.C.; First Community Financial Partners (FCMP) in Joliet, Ill.; F&M Financial in Clarksville, Tenn.; and F & M Financial in Salisbury, N.C.

Plans by National Bank Holdings and Capital Bank Financial to go public will create common stock that can supplement cash for open-bank acquisitions.

The Federal Reserve Board has entered into separate written agreements with Doral Financial (DRL) and State Bank of Geneva.

Small LowellBank is turning to Jack Henry for teller automation and online bill pay as well as core automation.

Continued monetary easing by the Fed would further squeeze margins, encourage undue risk-taking, and spark prepayments in bond portfolios without juicing loan demand, community bankers warn.

First Commercial Bancshares will to sell a branch in Norman, Oklahoma. The Edmond, Okla., company has been focusing more on Colorado, where it has four branches.

The Santa Rosa, Calif., thrift is the latest lender to be targeted by the Justice Department for allegedly discriminating against minorities.

Citizens Republic had been rumored to be on the block for several weeks. Analysts are also calling the deal significant, but pricey, for FirstMerit.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a candidate to assume control of the House Financial Services Committee next year, sharply criticized the Dodd-Frank Act, saying it had severely damaged financial institutions.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. warned banks under its watch Wednesday about the risks of acquiring participations in loans while relying too heavily on originating institutions for the underwriting.