Federal regulators on Tuesday pushed back against the perception that they are cracking down harder on Bank Secrecy Act violations, saying they have not made recent changes to the rules or how they enforce them.

WASHINGTON — House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, announced a vote for Thursday of 11 bills aimed at lessening regulatory burden on banks by changing aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act and associated regulations.

Poage Bankshares in Ashland, Ky., has named Daniel King 3rd as its chairman.

AmeriServ Financial in Johnstown, Pa., has a new chief executive.

Carolina Alliance Bank in Spartanburg, S.C., has agreed to buy PBSC Financial in Greenville, S.C.

While many small banks are hoping Congress will grant regulatory relief this year, mutual institutions are seeking two specific changes they hope can bolster their struggling business.

Community Bank Shares of Indiana in New Albany has registered to sell stock on behalf of several investors.

Metro Bancorp has a little more breathing room after an activist investor withdrew one of its two nominees for the Harrisburg, Pa., company’s board.

The $1.1 billion-asset company filed a shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week that will allow it to sell securities and issue debt.

Regulatory approval of Primary Bank in New Hampshire does not make a trend, but observers are hopeful it signals a more promising near future for the chartering of new banks.

Sterne Agee's investment bank was among the most active last year, handling 18 deals. But the parent company's pending sale is leaving observers wondering what will happen to the people who shepherded those transactions.

Cathay General Bancorp in Los Angeles has given some executives important additional duties.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., has reorganized several management posts following the resignation of its chief operating officer.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial in Bedminster, N.J., has agreed to buy Wealth Management Consultants in Morristown, N.J.

Ohio's largest mutual bank is planning to form a holding company to position itself for acquisitions and other growth opportunities.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the best way to instill ethical culture and what the U.S. can learn from foreign countries' efforts to reach the unbanked.

The usefulness of in-store branches is a hotly debated topic in the banking industry. But some institutions are successfully landing customers — and increasingly valuable deposits — through such locations.

The CFPB wants to expand banks' data reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. But this would impose even greater costs upon local financial institutions that are already overburdened by regulation.

Alongside the requisite ATMs and tablet-bearing salespeople, a New York credit union has installed touchscreens where customers can visualize a path to realizing their financial goals. Wells Fargo is taking a similar approach to credit education online.

If successful, Provident Bank in Massachusetts and Cincinnati Federal in Ohio would become the first new mutual holding companies since 2011, giving some hope that the structure could make a comeback.