An overlooked issue in the plan to reform Federal Home Loan bank membership could inadvertently jeopardize the local focus of the system by allowing insurance companies to apply for membership in any of the 12 districts.

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy Square 1 Financial in Durham, N.C.

Popular and FirstBank gained critical branches and deposits in a region where growth is hard to come by. Some observers said it could also benefit the island to have one less competitor.

IMGCAP(1)]

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including Dodd-Frank's impact on small institutions, Fed chair Janet Yellen's handling of attacks on her staff and Bitcoin's public but pseudonymous ledger.

The $1.4 billion-asset company said in a press release Friday that it will allow Richard Lashley, a co-founder of PL Capital, to join its board.

Regulators have shut Doral Bank, ending a tumultuous decade for the Puerto Rican bank. The $5.9 billion-asset Doral was the fourth bank to fail this year and the biggest bank to be closed since the $11 billion-asset Westernbank in Puerto Rico was shuttered in April 2010.

Jack Hartings is a vocal proponent of reduced regulation for small banks. But the CEO of Peoples Bank in Ohio wants Washington to force other industries to share the burden of improving cybersecurity and cleaning up after breaches.

First National Community Bancorp in Dunmore, Pa., will pay $1.5 million to resolve issues tied to the Bank Secrecy Act.

BancorpSouth in Tupelo, Miss., is planning to add a former Bank of America executive to its board.

CVB Financial in Ontario, Calif., will take a small hit in the first quarter after repaying a Federal Home Loan Bank advance.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

Summit Financial Group in Moorefield, W.Va., has been freed from a five-year regulatory order.

Bancorp of New Jersey in Fort Lee is looking to raise $9.5 million through a private placement.

Bankwell Financial Group in New Canaan, Conn., didn't have to look far to find a permanent leader.

Plumas Bank in Quincy, Calif., is looking to convert its loan-production office in Reno, Nev., into a full-service branch.

Prosper Marketplace, an online lender for consumer loans, has found a new source of referrals: community banks.

The Northeast has always been a competitive market for deposit gathering. Loan growth and the potential for rising interests are forcing banks in the region to find new ways to bring in low-cost liquidity.

Doral Financial suffered another setback as a Puerto Rican court ruled that the company is not entitled to a $230 million refund tied to overpaid taxes.

The Massachusetts senator recently argued that community banks have little need for regulatory relief. But a closer look at recent FDIC data shows that the health of small banks has taken a turn for the worse in the aftermath of Dodd-Frank.