American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

A Dallas-area investment group has applied to become a bank holding company so it could acquire a small bank outside of Austin.

Community bank Investors Bancorp Inc. agreed to acquire Piraeus Bank S.A.'s Marathon Banking Corp. unit for $135 million in cash, a move that doubles its presence in New York.

More than a year following its chief executive's departure, Pacific Commerce Bank in Los Angeles has found someone to take the helm.

HomeStreet (HMST) of Seattle has extended a housing assistance program to the Spokane, Wash., area.

More banks may decide to sell if they conclude Congress will not renew the capital gains tax cut, Deloitte's Sharon Weinstein says.

A planned merger between two southern California banks has yet to close a year after the deal was announced because regulators have yet to approve it.

The more than $500 million that investors pumped into banks in the Tar Heel State has turned marginal players into consolidators, provided a way to absorb failures and instilled new discipline.

A half billion dollars in PE funding has breathed life into North Carolina banking, raising questions about whether community bankers nationwide should be teaming up with Mitt Romney's old industry.

The Treasury Department has successfully sold off its shares in seven more community banks as part of its ongoing effort to wind down the four-year-old Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Crestmark Bancorp of Troy, Mich., has purchased the working capital loan portfolio from First Citizens Bank and has entered into partnership with the Raleigh, N.C., company.

About 35 million Americans are considered underbanked. According to a Javelin study, this group has higher income and potential interest in traditional banking than you might think.

Cambridge Savings Bank in Massachusetts said that Robert Wilson, its president and chief executive, has taken a medical leave.

In what would be its first acquisition since its founding in 2007, fast-growing First Virginia Community Bank has agreed to buy 1st Commonwealth Bank of Virginia.

A fight between ECB Bancorp in North Carolina and the Gibbs family foreshadows clashes at many community banks between today's managers and ownership interests from yesteryear.

An employee of First Federal Savings Bank of Iowa helps rescue a kitten trapped in a ventilation pipe next to one of the bank's branches.

The Federal Reserve Board has lifted a written agreement with Baylake Corp. that required the Sturgeon Bay, Wis., company to improve its asset quality and earnings.

The former chief executive of a failed Florida community bank has been sentenced to six years in prison for lying to regulators about the bank's condition.

M&T Bank (MTB) in Buffalo announced Monday that former Comptroller of the Currency John "Jerry" D. Hawke Jr. has been elected to the boards of the bank and its holding company.

A shareholder group that includes a former ECB director has urged directors of the Engelhard, N.C., company to remove Dwight Utz as president and chief executive.