First Community Financial Partners in Joliet, Ill., has agreed to buy First Mazon Bancorp in Mazon, Ill.

The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions closed the $67.1 million-asset North Milwaukee State Bank on Friday.

First Interstate BancSystem in Billings, Mont., has tapped a KeyCorp executive as its new chief credit officer.

C1 Financial in Tampa, Fla., was unable to seize an opportunity to bring in more money for its sale to Bank of the Ozarks in Little Rock, Ark.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Massachusetts invested in technology to beef up its small-business lending, an area ripe for the picking by alternative lenders.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is exploring ways to use $40 million it received as part of a private-label securities settlement to support small-business development and job creation to help future homebuyers.

United Security Bancshares in Thomasville, Ala., has agreed to buy a three-acre parcel near Birmingham, Ala., for a new executive office and retail branch.

Activists typically improve a company's stock performance — and can produce "dramatic, excess returns" when they have specific demands, says Josh Hinkel, a partner with Bain & Co.

Ray Grace, North Carolina's banking commissioner, believes federal bank regulators should embrace charters for banks dedicated to innovation. Doing so, he said, would help the banking industry secure its spot as a "laboratory for change."

Traditional financial institutions are often seen as the outdated rival to new disruptors, but the idea that a bank can't be a marketplace lender, and vice versa, is a myth.

Midland Financial in Oklahoma City has agreed to buy 1st Century Bancshares in Los Angeles.

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

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State Street in Boston is on the hunt for a new chief financial officer. Michael Bell, 52, has decided to step down within the next year the custody bank said on Thursday.

Richard Meares, the president and chief executive of Fleetwood Bank in Berks County, Pa., is retiring in January.

Norwood Financial in Honesdale, Pa., has agreed to buy Delaware Bancshares in Walton, N.Y.

It could take months before lawmakers approve a successor for departing NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz, and industry observers believe issues like supplemental capital could be on hold until that replacement takes office.

James Hackett, chairman of the board of directors at Fifth Third Bancorp, is stepping down.

The Hall of Fame manager, who won three World Series, told bankers at a recent conference that trust, integrity and communication are critical to success. La Russa also shared tales from his storied career, including accounts of managing the likes of Rickey Henderson and Chris Carpenter.

That is the message from North Carolina's banking commissioner and others who think the odds of preventing the rule are so low, and the amount of preparation needed to comply so great, that bankers should get real.