First M&F Corp. in Kosciusko, Miss., has struck two deals that would give the $1.2 billion-asset company its first branches in two neighboring states.

Almost a year to the day after its bold attempt to acquire a Farm Credit System lender fell through, Rabobacnk Group resumed its U.S. expansion drive with a $371 million cash deal for Central Coast Bancorp in Salinas, Calif.

Commerce Bancshares Inc. in Kansas City reported a modest increase in third-quarter net income, which it credited largely to a 10% increase in fee income, to $86.9 million.

MIDWEST

Just months after opening for business, a small New Jersey bank has found itself in a legal tussle with the state’s largest over the right to operate in the wealthy New York suburb of Englewood Cliffs.

Compass Bancshares knew it had to dump its proprietary fund family if it wanted to make any impact as a wealth manager, and it, like many smaller banks, believes it has found an impact product in separately managed accounts.

NBC Capital Corp. of Starkville, Miss., has changed the name of its lead bank from National Bank of Commerce to Cadence Bank.

PremierWest Bancorp in Medford, Ore., said Tuesday that its third-quarter earnings rose 44% from a year earlier, to $3.5 million, on strong loan and deposit growth.

Charlie Saeman, the president of State Bank of Cross Plains in Wisconsin, has wanted to offer remote-deposit services to his commercial customers for some time but has hesitated because of the associated risks and technology expense.

Independent payday lenders in Illinois say a new state law that caps fees on payday loans could wind up driving many of them out of business.

First Regional Bancorp in Century City, Calif., said Thursday that earnings more than doubled in the third quarter thanks to strong loan growth.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., spends more on marketing than most companies its size - and with one of the nation's most effective retail banks soon to enter its territory, it plans to spend a lot more, its chief executive said.

Running a bank these days may be more demanding than ever before, but it appears that chief executives are at least being well compensated for their trouble.

While more and more banks are targeting female entrepreneurs, a start-up in tony Scottsdale, Ariz., is courting affluent women, whether they work or not.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

First Midwest Bancorp Inc. of Itasca, Ill., said Wednesday that regulators had freed its bank from orders to improve compliance with anti-money-laundering laws.

First Citizens Bancshares Inc.’s new head of wealth management services says her unit will grow by exploiting niche markets within the Raleigh, N.C., company’s footprint and that of its fast-expanding IronStone Bank subsidiary.

BancorpSouth Inc. of Tupelo, Miss., joined the list of banking companies to quantify the effects of the recent hurricanes on its third-quarter earnings.

The Credit Union National Association, in a move it openly acknowledges is payback, has come out in opposition to Zions Bancorp.'s acquisition of Amegy Bancorp.