A pair of healthy banks destined to be partners are nearing deadline as investors anxiously wait.

It's time for our regulators to think broadly about what our financial system needs and then take a stand. Simply grinding out Dodd-Frank proposals that no one understands — like the risk-retention proposal and the Volcker Rule release — is not the answer.

Johnson Financial Group Inc. in Racine, Wis., said a decision to close its Cayman Islands branch is related to new laws requiring banks to pay interest on commercial deposit accounts.

Cheviot Financial in Cheviot, Ohio, said Tuesday that it had received regulatory approval for a stock offering tied to its mutual holding company's proposed mutual-to-stock conversion.

Webster Financial Corp. had about as much luck as the big banks in staying ahead of the curve on debit card fees.

It might not be well-reasoned; it might not always be civil; and it might not be fair. But the Occupy Wall Street movement, with its anti-finance bias, is with us and it is real. And unless the economy improves, or some other dramatic event occurs that at the moment seems remote, the reality is that banks are stuck for now in a reputational backwater.

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NBH Holdings Corp. in Boston is the latest bank roll-up group to file for an initial public offering so that its stock can be traded on the open markets.

With a renewed appetite to expand lending, big banks are said to be actively courting borrowers much smaller than their typical midmarket clients. The banks are wooing potential clients with very competitive rates and loan structures, much to the concern of smaller banks.

Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania Inc. in Narberth said Tuesday that regulators had terminated its July 2009 consent order.

Skip Hageboeck, CEO of City Holding Co., has a clear idea where he wants to go (the I-81 corridor that runs through Virginia) and where he doesn't (the District of Columbia). His pace is slow, one deal every six years, but he's fine with that.

The company's post-BankAtlantic strategy became clearer this week. It is buying a Florida company that serves the vacation and retirement crowd.

Mercantile Bancorp Inc. in Quincy, Ill., notified the NYSE Amex that it intends to voluntarily delist its common stock.

Hanmi Financial said it is planning to sell 87.5 million common stock shares at 80 cents a share, using a "substantial portion" of the funds to provide capital to its banking unit and to support growth.

United Community Financial Corp. in Youngstown, Ohio, narrowed its third-quarter loss by 10% from a year earlier, to $8.9 million, due to improved asset quality.

Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., said Monday that it had added two of its senior executives to its board.

The outcome of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's 'Larger Participant' rule has the potential to level the playing field between the banking industry and an old rival: Wal-Mart.

State Bank Financial Corp. in Atlanta reported that its third-quarter earnings nearly doubled from a quarter earlier, to $17.1 million, due largely to higher accretion on loans covered by loss-share agreements with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The City Holding (W.Va.) deal for Virginia Savings was eye-catching for its simplicity, but deals between healthy banks will remain the exception for now.

More banks have sold problem assets to private-equity groups this year, while others unloaded their banks in hopes of unlocking the value in nonperforming assets. Some believe selling bad loans to nonbanks could shore up valuations by removing the challenges of regulatory oversight.