Cadence Bancorp's offer of 2.4 times tangible book value for Houston's Encore Bancshares has revived hopes that the M&A is coming back.

Regulators have terminated a consent order with Magyar Bancorp Inc.'s banking unit after the New Brunswick, N.J., company reduced its nonperforming assets and increased its capital levels.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has filed a lawsuit against former officers and directors of Broadway Bank in connection with the bank's collapse two years ago.

First Commonwealth Financial Corp. in Indiana, Pa., has named T. Michael Price as its president and chief executive.

Sierra Vista Bank in Folsom, Calif., is looking to start its fifth year with $6.5 million of new capital.

First Niagara Financial Group Inc. of Buffalo, N.Y., has shifted its small-business banking focus away from individual branches to a newly created business unit that will be solely dedicated to attracting and retaining small-business customers.

Tom Brouster, hired last week as a consultant to Reliance Bancshares, has a track record of turning around struggling banks. Brouster, who declined to outline a specific strategy for the St. Louis-area company, said in an interview Tuesday that selling is always an option in banking.

Esther George, the new president of the Kansas City Fed, discusses her fears on overburdening small banks, whether too big to fail is over, and her approach to regulation.

Roma Financial Corp. in Robbinsville, N.J., reported that its profit for 2011 rose almost 37% from a year earlier, to $7 million, because of loan growth and a lower loan-loss provision.

Shareholders of Mainline Bancorp Inc. in Ebensbug, Pa., have approved the company's sale to S&T Bancorp Inc.

Savannah Bancorp Inc. in Georgia said that one of its bank has entered into a consent order with regulators and now must work to maintain capital levels and reduce problem assets.

Encore Bancshares in Houston had a three-year plan for independence before an offer from Cadence Bancorp provided shareholders with the same value … immediately.

Legislation that would let banks appeal examination findings to an outside arbiter has now been introduced in both houses of Congress.

An American Banker editor couldn't escape banking even on a family vacation to the new LEGOLAND amusement park in Winter Haven, Fla. Welcome to the land of bricks, but no mortar.

Premier Financial Bancorp Inc. in Huntington, W.Va., reported that its fourth-quarter profit rose 5% from a year earlier, to $2.4 million, as operating expenses declined.

The $114 million-asset Clarkston State Bank in Michigan survived the economic downturn by significantly shrinking its assets, selling a stake in another bank and raising $8.5 million of capital. Clarkston's slow recovery could give hope to other struggling banks.

Big banks need passing grades on stress tests and healthy stocks before they start buying, Frank Cicero says.

Veritec is the latest company to offer a debit card with an "off" switch. It gives cardholders the ability to switch off the account's transaction functions from a Web browser or smartphone.

Patrick Gideon resigned as chairman of Reliance Bancshares Inc. in Missouri after objecting the company's decision to hire an outside consultant.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will propose mortgage servicing rules this year that would restrict force-placed insurance and impose new disclosure requirements for adjustable-rate mortgages.