Park Sterling Corporation in Charlotte, N.C., announced Monday that it is buying Citizens South Bank in Gastonia, N.C., in a deal that would instantly double its size.

Government deference to big banks is a source of disgust and outrage that could ultimately lead to real reform and help all banks, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

Congress, unlike the Treasury, was one Washington institution that took a serious interest in preventing taxpayers from getting defrauded, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

The "vice-like grip" giant banks have on both parties makes their forced breakup unlikely. But momentum is rising for a move toward Glass-Steagall, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

The size of the biggest banks has made them a greater systemic risk than ever that's been compounded by the "fantasy" that living wills provide safety, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

When pressed on the AIG bailouts, the administration when on the attack and tried to trivialize a serious area of public concern, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

The Home Affordable Modification Program was so poorly implemented that it accomplished on a fraction of its stated intent, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

Tim Geithner's Treasury Department half-truths, exaggeration and intentional deceptions misled the public about Tarp and the AIG bailout, says the program's former Special Inspector General.

Giant banks pose such a threat to the economy that lawmakers have gone to extreme-and futile-lengths to protect against their failures, says the former Trap Special Inspector General.

Dodd-Frank was tailored to tame giant banks and has left smaller institutions suffering much of the collateral damage, says the former Trap Special Inspector General.

The Justice Department's fear of losing cases and lack of sophistication likely enabled many Tarp fraudsters to get off scott free, says the former Tarp Special Inspector General.

The Fed and Treasury fought fiercely to prevent Americans from learning that the Troubled Asset Relief Program was a giant bailout for banks-not homeowners-says the former Special Inspector General.

The Washington-Wall Street revolving door blinded policymakers to outside concerns and doomed the Troubled Asset Relief Program, says its former Special Inspector General.

As a former banker, I watched in amazement and disgust as the country's largest banks morphed from trusted fiduciaries of customer financial assets to unrepentant predators of consumer financial assets in just a few decades.

After putting its initial public offering plans on ice, Customers Bancorp in Wyomissing, Pa., has placed $270 million of its investment portfolio on the auction block.

First California Financial Group's decision to turn down a buyout offer from PacWest Bancorp (PACW) has angered at least one of the company's largest shareholders.

Many banks reported strong loan production in the first quarter, but most bankers acknowledged that overall loan demand remains tepid and that the activity is largely a result of stealing business from rival banks.

Faced with losing key commercial clients, a number of community banks are looking to lower loan pricing by offering floating rates. By doing so, bankers are putting themselves at risk if the Fed aggressively raises interest rates.

I guess I'm tired of reading and hearing banks and their managements cursed, ridiculed and extolled for causing the financial meltdown and economic crisis. It seems that most everyone from Washington to the "Occupy" groups wants a piece of banking's hide for the pain of this recent experience.

Jamie Dimon’s mea culpa over a $2 billion trading comes at a lousy time for bankers opposed to trading restrictions. It also raises questions about the effectiveness of big banks’ risk management.