The acquisition would be Alerus' first since it bought Private Bank Minnesota in Minneapolis in June 2014. The Beacon deal would boost Alerus' total assets in Minnesota to about $771 million.

While banks have significantly decreased their problem assets from their 2010 peak, sour credits remain much higher than in 2006. A number of banks have been reluctant to sell these assets because of low interest rates and a struggle to find better investments.

The Federal Reserve Board has approved enhancements to its automated clearing house service that will require its banks to process same-day payments.

Catskill Hudson Bank in Kingston, N.Y., has hired Orville Aarons as its president. Aarons, a former director at Naugatuck Valley Financial, had been working as a consultant to Catskill Hudson since April.

Codorus Valley Bancorp in York, Pa., has hired Dwight Utz as its chief operating officer. Utz succeeded Mike Allen, who resigned in March and is now executive-in-residence of The Graham Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies at Penn State University.

A number of state banking associations held their annual conferences in posh out-of-state locations this year as executives show a greater willingness to make travel plans.

Chile's Banco de Credito e Inversiones has received regulatory approval to acquire City National Bank of Florida, more than two years after the deal was announced.

First Midwest Bancorp in Itasca, Ill., has agreed to buy Peoples' Bank of Arlington Heights in Illinois.

With Beth Mooney in charge, KeyCorp has emerged as one of the industry's top regional banking companies while becoming a model for workplace diversity.

With 25 years of experience as a small-bank CEO, Laurie Stewart has emerged as a leading advocate for community banking in her home state and nationwide.

Having aced the challenges she faced in 2014, Diane D'Erasmo was rewarded with a new position overseeing HSBC's business with core industries in key growth markets.

When the Japanese-owned bank was undergoing an exhaustive review of its operations, senior executives gave Wendy Breuder perhaps the daunting task: identifying cost savings across six business lines spanning eight countries. She more than delivered.

For the chief executive of a bank with just $253 million of assets, Jill Castilla has had an outsized influence on the banking industry.

The statistics are dismal: Last year, just 16% of board seats at S&P 1500 companies were held by women, less than the percentage held by directors named John, Robert, James and William. But plenty of women are working to change that, including quite a few in our rankings.

KeyCorp's Beth Mooney tops the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking list; the 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance list is led by Mary Callahan Erdoes at JPMorgan Chase; and Jane Fraser at Citigroup heads the 25 Women to Watch list.

Marianne Lake has become more prominent at the nation's largest bank, emerging as the voice in discussing its performance and defending its size.

The highest-ranking woman at the world's largest custody bank is looking to better understand millennial employees. "They are the future," Peetz says.

As Wells Fargo's head of community banking, Carrie Tolstedt has to grapple with an ever-changing retail landscape and a lot of new technology.

Wells Fargo's consumer lending unit has thrived under Avid Modjtabai.

Cathy Bessant, who has a new C-suite title at Bank of America, builds confidence by taking on challenges that scare her. She also takes on technological decluttering and gender equality.