Stock markets have shot up as investors grow hopeful that the United States will avoid a recession. But nearly 3 in 4 community bankers are less optimistic that the Fed will achieve its mission of reducing inflation without causing a downturn, a survey from IntraFi found.

The $417 million agreement would give Richmond, Virginia-based Atlantic Union Bankshares "the critical mass" it needs in its home state and neighboring North Carolina, according to CEO John Asbury. He and his counterpart Jeff Haley at American National Bankshares in Danville, Virginia, describe each other as longtime pals.

During the company's second-quarter earnings call, CEO Jim Ryan acknowledged employees' "resiliency and their commitment to supporting one another" after a gunman opened fire on a Louisville, Kentucky, branch in April.

The deal is expected to close late in 2023 or early next year and be immediately accretive to the combined company's earnings.

Several community banks noted an uptick in problem loans in second-quarter earnings reports. Small lenders should brace for more of this, industry observers noted.

Brian Plum abruptly stepped down as president and CEO of the Charlottesville, Virginia, company last week. Blue Ridge also announced that it would not pay a dividend in the third quarter.

Scully, who founded and then eventually sold Howard Bank, will help the Rockville, Maryland-based Capital expand its footprint in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

An executive with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago pushes back on a BankThink article criticizing the Mortgage Partnership Finance program.

The New Jersey institution has hired Jeanne Scungio, a veteran banker who ran First Republic Bank's New York operations, to oversee its expansion into the Big Apple.

The average credit union member had saved $286 less in March compared to a year earlier. That was the largest per-member drop in credit union history, fueled by rising costs of living and more aggressive competition.