Little Bank in Kinston, N.C., has agreed to buy its first bank. It will pay $30.7 million, or $11.94 a share, for the $298 million-asset Union Banc in Oxford, N.C.

The founder of Sterling Bancshares in Poplar Bluff, Mo., has resigned a month after he being placed on administrative leave.

Betting the farm on record crop, livestock and dairy prices has turned into a losing investment for an expanding share of America's agricultural heartland. The level of debt to income is the highest in three decades, and growers are increasingly unable to make loan payments.

Summit State Bank in Santa Rosa, Calif., has hired a rival’s chief credit officer.

If there is one thing credit unions and banks can agree on with regard to the National Credit Union Administration's latest effort to revamp its field-of-membership rules it is this: a lawsuit is brewing.

Midland States Bancorp in Effingham, Ill., has plucked its new chief financial officer from a much larger bank: Kevin Thompson, who joins Midland from Zions Bancorp., where he had been senior vice president of corporate finance since 2014.

Trustmark in Jackson, Miss., has agreed to buy RB Bancorp. in Athens, Ala.

T Acquisition, an entity formed by A. Haag Sherman and the partners of Cain Watters & Associates, has agreed to buy the $207 million-asset parent of T Bank for $40.5 million, based on the seller's number of shares outstanding at Sept. 30.

Optimism is running high in banking after the presidential election, as many bankers see Donald Trump's promises to lower corporate taxes and weaken regulations as potential boons for the economy and their bottom lines. Others, though, doubt Trump would push through or even endorse meaningful regulatory reform and are wary of his protectionist rhetoric. Here's what some bankers have to say to the president-elect.

Community banks in the Pacific Northwest and New England completed acquisitions late in the week, and the TIAA-EverBank deal has moved a step closer to reality.

A community banker on the president-elect's economic advisory council says none of his tax reforms target the mortgage interest deduction.

Banc of California in Irvine has delayed filing its third-quarter 10-Q as it continues to probe purported improper transactions that may have involved directors and senior executives.

Midland States Bancorp in Effingham, Ill., has launched an efficiency push after a period of expansion that reached another milestone Thursday.

Banks have been waiting on Justice Department guidelines on how to make their websites compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but many are being advised to take action now or face lawsuits from disabled customers.

Bankers can't start spending their tax cuts under the Trump administration yet because there are so many X factors — including what exactly the new president would seek to steer through Congress. But they sure have fun thinking about what they'd do with the billions of dollars in savings that are possible.

Meta Financial in Sioux Falls, S.D., has agreed to buy the tax advance and consumer lending business of Specialty Consumer Services in Hurst, Texas.

Many community bankers are hopeful that the pro-business Republican will reduce regulatory costs for them and their customers, but others remain concerned about Trump's lack of specifics on job creation.

New York Community's acquisition of Astoria Financial will not get the necessary regulatory OK this year, but both parties “remain committed to the transaction,” the CRE-heavy acquirer said.

Will another reason for market fluctuations hurt stock-heavy merger agreements? Will the promise of lighter regulation give buyers more time to chase deals, or encourage prospective sellers to stay independent? The wheels are already turning in the minds of dealmakers after Trump's defeat of Clinton.

The only tactic for survival is brutal honesty. So let's accept the very real risk of disappearing and do the heavy lifting required to persevere.