Series of bad events led to Seattle banks sale to AmericanWest. Being small did not help things.

Forget Dodd-Frank. Never mind unemployment. Want to jumpstart lending? Fix the system for classifying loans, Harris Simmons says.

A group of bankers have banded together to buy First National Bank of Chillicothe in Texas and will use it to open a branch just outside of Dallas.

Big bank deals will worsen systemic risks and unfair competition, said the ICBA, which called for a moratorium while new regulations are in the works. Capital One argued the deal would create a safer company.

The Massachusetts Democrat said housing advocates' fight against a key reform of Dodd-Frank would hurt the low-income borrowers they are trying to help.

Smaller banks have systems work to do, and a company called WebEquity is trying to fill in the niche. Upgrading to a unified system helps prevent inadvertent discrimination and stop making lending decisions based on excel spreadsheets.

Calvin B. Taylor Bankshares Inc. in Berlin, Md., disclosed that its board has reinstated a stock repurchase program that had been dormant for nearly two years.

A group representing community banks Tuesday urged federal regulators to impose a moratorium on all acquisitions and mergers involving large financial firms--including Capital One Financial Corp.'s pending plan to buy ING Direct USA.

Dodd-Frank failed to cure key structural shortcomings of mortgage servicing that are still harming consumers, says Raj Date, the interim leader of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

At a community banking panel at this year's American Banker Regulatory Symposium, the consensus held that regulation can't be a one-size-fits-all practice.

The Federal Reserve is holding public hearings in three cities across the country to review Capital One's proposed purchase of ING Direct. The hearings to be held in San Francisco are half a continent away from the nearest branches of what may become America's fifth largest bank. Without branches, the bank's responsibility to California cities and counties is not clear under regulators' current interpretation of the federal Community Reinvestment Act.

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First Bancshares Inc. in Hattiesburg, Miss., said Monday that it had expanded along the Gulf Coast after buying eight branches that had belonged to Whitney National Bank.

OCC head tells American Banker regulatory symposium that banks could face restitution after complaint reviews. Gruenberg, meanwhile, announces FDIC community-bank initiatives.

As the FDIC files more lawsuits against former directors of failed banks, a common theme has emerged from the defendants’ legal arguments: the FDIC is to blame for the failures. Industry observers are divided as to whether the defense will hold water in court.

The former Investors Savings Bank in Short Hills, N.J., has shortened its name to Investors Bank to better reflect its increasing commercial focus.

WSFS Financial Corp. in Wilmington, Del., has hired Paul D. Geraghty as its chief wealth officer.

Atlantic Coast Financial Corp. in Jacksonville, Fla., said in a regulatory filing last week that Robert J. Larison Jr. is retiring as its chief operating officer.

BBVA Compass plans to take a small first step into South Florida this spring, by opening a branch in Miami.

Happy Bancshares Inc. in Canyon, Texas, has agreed to acquire Signature Bancshares Inc. in Dallas.