Bay Commercial Bank in Walnut Creek, Calif., has stepped in to outbid a rival to buy Valley Community Bank in Pleasanton, Calif.

The National Credit Union Administration claims a Deutsche Bank unit was negligent as a trustee overseeing mortgage-backed securities and played a role in the failure of five corporate credit unions.

The bottom line at Solera National Bancorp in Lakewood, Colo., improved from a year earlier, though losses persisted amid management upheaval.

Ambitious Renasant Corp. in Mississippi is still billions of dollars away from a key regulatory threshold of $10 billion in assets, but it's getting ready now for the demands that come with growing that large. Two of its top executives explain why.

A large activist investor has given an early vote of confidence to Malvern Bancorp's new chief executive, while backing off of demands that the Paoli, Pa., company sell itself.

Shaza Andersen recently sent out a companywide email stating that employees who don't deposit their paychecks into a WashingtonFirst account will soon be required to pick up paper checks — from her office.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Frontier Bank FSB in Palm Desert, Calif.

WASHINGTON — Policymakers should consider changing rules that limit the amount of debt that holding companies can carry in order to exempt more community banks from the restrictions, a senior Federal Reserve Board official said Friday.

The U.S. Postal Service's inspector general said Friday that it is seeking proposals from outside groups about possible postal banking services.

Banks on opposite coasts — Sterling Bancorp in New York and Banner in Washington — are joining the list of institutions teetering on the $10 billion-asset threshold where a slew of new regulation kicks in. The banks' CEOs said they were finally able to peg the expected costs of reaching that size.

Hilltop Holdings in Dallas has disclosed that its mortgage unit is under federal investigation in connection with underwriting practices for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration.

Hanmi Financial in Los Angeles reported higher quarterly earnings as organic loan growth and an acquisition offset significant margin pressure.

Disaffected big bank customers are looking for a reason to switch. Community banks and credit unions should take advantage of this opportunity with a collective ad campaign that positions their institutions as friendly, helpful and morally upright alternatives to major lenders.

Fidelity Southern in Atlanta has agreed to buy deposits and loans from Florida Capital Bank.

Wells Fargo and Live Oak Bank were the top lenders in the Small Business Administration's 7(a) loan program, helping lead the agency program to its most successful fiscal year.

Banks are not closing branches fast enough to keep up with the exodus to online banking. The percentage of branches with low transaction volume is on the rise, according to a new study. Bankers say they are on the case, but there are obstacles to simply hanging a "closed" sign on the front door.

It has been three months since Bankwell Financial's CEO left abruptly. Some observers say it might make sense for Bankwell — and others in a similar spot — to consider selling while no change-of-control payout is involved.

Beneficial Bancorp in Philadelphia could raise as much as $633 million through its second-step conversion.

Lack of diversity in the sales force is one of several nagging issues underlying mortgage lenders' concerns about tepid home sales.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has signed a lease to open its first banking office in Oregon.