Twenty years ago I engineered the sale of Security Pacific Bank, at the time the nation's fifth largest bank, to Bank of America. On August 12, 1991, the day the deal was announced BofA's stock closed at $10.00. Today it closed at $7.65 a decline of 23% over the past two decades.

Community banks don't typically lead the high-concept branch pack, but this Maine bank is experimenting with new cash recycling equipment and self-service kiosks.

First Busey Corp. in Champaign, Ill., has received $72.6 million from the Small Business Lending Fund, the largest award to date since the Treasury Department began disbursing funds to community banks last month.

Clark Street Capital has spent the last few years helping struggling banks shed problem assets. Now it wants to help banks comply with enforcement actions.

The New York Stock Exchange has warned Flagstar Bancorp Inc. that its stock is in danger of being delisted because it has traded at an average of less than $1 for 30 consecutive days.

Lydian Private Bank's failure proved to skeptics that the private banking model is a toxic mix for banks.

On Thursday, the Fed published written agreements struck earlier this month with the $119 million-asset Texas Bancshares Inc. in Snyder, Texas, and the $169 million-asset Flagship Financial Group Inc. in Eden Prairie, Minn.

Broadway Financial in Los Angeles is planning to close two of its five branches as part of a broader plan to trim overhead and preserve capital.

Charles Taylor, the OCC's new deputy head of capital policy, comes from the Pew Project on Financial Reform, which has pushed for interventionist regulation of the sort the agency usually opposes.

Ag banks and superregionals will be on the rise, many community banks and branches will have disappeared, and three mini-financial crises will have occurred, a roundtable of experts said when asked to predict banking in 2036.

The industry's criticism of the agency does not apply when it comes to nonbank supervision.

Small banks continued to withdraw credit from small businesses in the second quarter, but data indicates that large banks opened up the spigot on small business credit cards.

Prepaid company NetSpend, which has struggled to grow since its successful IPO last year, is being increasingly talked about as an acquisition target.

It seems everyone in community banking knows the model needs to evolve, but few have any great ideas on how to do it. One thing does seem certain: standing still is not an option.

City Holding Co. in Charleston, W.Va., said Tuesday that it has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a class-action suit in which depositors accused the $2.7 billion-asset company of improperly assessing overdraft fees.

First BanCorp's bid to raise more than $560 million of fresh capital hit a snag this week after the San Juan, P.R., company failed to obtain enough shareholder votes to proceed with its plan to issue 150 million of new shares.

Continuing its aggressive expansion in the Southeast, Renasant Corp. in Tupelo, Miss., has set up shop Tuscaloosa, Ala., and brought in two former BB&T Corp. to build up its customer base there.

"What fresh hell is this?" to quote the sharp-witted Dorothy Parker. American banking has coped with unprecedented troubles in the last couple of years and now face an interesting new twist — negative interest rates. The notion may disturb our very capitalistic core, but there is no need for panic...yet.

With at least 30 banks in the Chicago area on the brink of failure, a crew of ex-LaSalle bankers have formed Front Street to start shopping on their old turf.

Community Choice Financial Inc., a payday-loan company backed by a New York private equity fund, filed for a $230 million initial public offering this week, expanding some sources of consumer lending as traditional banks face new regulatory restrictions.