Jeff Gerhart, who took over as chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America last month, also chairs a small bank in Nebraska. In a wide-ranging interview, the fourth-generation banker discusses competing against bigger banks and collaboration with the American Bankers Association.

NCAL Bancorp in Los Angeles and Raton Capital in New Mexico have been hit with enforcement orders from the Federal Reserve Board that require them to stabilize their ailing bank subsidiaries.

Pacific Capital's calculus was simple: Texas financier Gerald Ford, majority owner of the California bank, decided its shares would never trade as high as the price UnionBanCal was willing to pay.

C&F Financial (CFFI) in West Point, Va., has repurchased all the shares it issued to the Treasury Department in 2009 and now just needs to buy back its warrant to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Commerce Bancshares posted record earnings in the first quarter as improved credit quality and strong revenue growth in its fee-based businesses more than offset flat loan growth.

Improved asset quality and declining expenses powered Washington Federal in Seattle to a $34 million profit in the quarter that ended March 31, a 32% increase from the same period in 2011.

Hugh C. Lane Jr. has stepped down as president and chief executive at the Bank of South Carolina (BKSC) and has been replaced by his longtime associate, Fleetwood S. Hassell.

Women and minorities own nearly 30% of all the businesses in California but many can't get the bank loans they need to grow their firms. California Bank & Trust in San Diego is aiming to change that — and bolster its own loan portfolio — with a new multi-pronged lending initiative targeting female and minority entrepreneurs.

First Mariner and Beneficial Mutual are among the banks that have gained large stakes in competitors after borrowers defaulted on loans where stock was pledged as collateral.

Heritage Financial Group (HBOS) of Albany, Ga., is entering neighboring Alabama with an agreement to buy a branch in Auburn from the banking unit of Community Capital Bancshares.

Shareholders of several community banks are facing big decisions this year, including approvals for executive compensation and adding directors intent on spurring M&A. A rise in shareholder activism adds to the intrigue. Here are some smaller banks that promise to have exciting, if not explosive, annual meetings.

With big deals still lacking, some bankers — including Umpqua's Ray Davis — are resorting to several small ones to move the needle.

Three top executives at the recovering Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania (RBPAA) will retire from the company by the end of the year, including Robert R. Tabas, its chairman and CEO.

Umpqua Holdings bought an open bank Tuesday for the first time in years, and like many of its peers chose a low-risk target that promises niche growth and little blowback from shareholders.

Empire National Bank said that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has ended a formal agreement after the Islandia, N.Y., bank improved its liquidity management and reduced credit concentrations.

Albert Forkner, who had been Wyoming's acting banking commissioner since January, was appointed to the position permanently in late March.

The Federal Reserve ordered Louis A. DeNaples to step down from the board of First National Community Bancorp (FNCB) of Dunmore, Pa., and submit a plan for selling his controlling stakes in First National and another bank.

Occupy Wall Street protesters and other pro-consumer groups are pushing leaders in some U.S. cities to shift municipal funds from big banks to small, local banks or credit unions. But they are finding it is hard to succeed.