OceanFirst Financial in Toms River, N.J., has agreed to buy Ocean Shore Holding in Ocean City, N.J.

Horizon Bancorp in Michigan City, Ind., has agreed to buy CNB Bancorp in Attica, Ind.

The $25 billion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that BankUnited Small Business Finance is now making loans in Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin.

A couple of years ago, the activist investor Joseph Stilwell said Anchor Bancorp in Lacey, Wash., deserved more time to try to right itself. Apparently he thinks that time is up.

Banks with a special focus, such as social equality or environmental sustainability, have to overcome additional hurdles while looking for an acquisition.

The leading Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee said Tuesday he was "optimistic" about lawmakers' making changes to improve the Dodd-Frank Act next year, while lauding JPMorgan Chase's decision to raise its minimum wage from $10.15 an hour to $12.

BancAlliance, a consortium of more than 200 community banks, is partnering with the digital wealth management firm Personal Capital.

Offering a new product or considering a merger may boost returns, but the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency says changes in strategy can be risky.

The management team at Bank of the Ozarks knows it has a dependency on commercial real estate. But they assert that sound underwriting, and efforts to diversify, are what really matters when assessing risk.

First Hawaiian Bank in Honolulu will be spun off rather than sold.

An industrywide springtime boomlet in business activity shed some of its momentum in June, according to the latest reading of American Banker's Index of Banking Activity. The IBA's composite index dipped to 54.9, down from 57.0 a month earlier. While that suggests an industry in modest expansion, it also is the weakest reading since January.

Most components of the index declined from their May levels and two of them — both of which track pricing on new lending — slipped below 50, suggesting that banks on balance lost whatever modicum of pricing power they had coming into the month.

In addition, respondents to the June survey were generally cautious about their consumer lending businesses (although a fair share of individual respondents remained upbeat, particularly with respect to auto lending).

All in all, the June results pointed to an industry more guarded in outlook, which is not surprising given the prevalence of concern that events at home and abroad (Brexit) would further postpone interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve.

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Expect banks to pull back on energy lending in the near term, as regulators step up their scrutiny of oil loans and bankers approach the business with a "different attitude," says Mariner Kemper, chairman and chief executive at UMB Financial in Kansas City, Mo.

Small banks are trying to figure out how to provide the digital services today's customers want while still retaining the human touch that distinguishes them from larger rivals. A small bank in Cincinnati says it has hit on the right formula.

The $7.9 billion-asset holding company for Citizens Business Bank said David Farnsworth will start as credit chief of both entities on July 18. He will succeed James Dowd, who retired on July 1.

Cathay General Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy SinoPac Bancorp from Bank SinoPac in Taiwan.

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The $5.2 billion-asset mutual said in a press release Thursday that Leonard Stekol had become its president. Stekol was also elected a trustee; he will remain chief operating officer.

At least eight small mutuals have agreed in recent years to merge with another institution rather than convert to stock ownership. More deals could be on the way.

Fewer transactions are taking places in branches but banks’ brick-and-mortar locations are more important than ever.

Wintrust Financial in Rosemont, Ill., has agreed to buy First Community Financial in Elgin, Ill.