Former "American Idol" star Clay Aiken will face incumbent Renee Ellmers in a congressional debate hosted by the North Carolina Bankers Association.

H&R Block, for the second time in a year, is finding it challenging to get out of banking.

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The $7.8 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing Friday that it had sold performing mortgages with outstanding balances of roughly $193 million to First BanCorp, also in San Juan.

Valley Community Bank's biggest shareholder has gone public with his objection to the Pleasanton, Calif., bank's sale to FNB Bancorp in San Francisco.

BEO Bancorp in Heppner, Ore., has agreed to buy Bank Reale, in Pasco, Wash. A purchase price for the cash-and-stock deal was not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter.

Greer State Bank in Greer, S.C., has eliminated its chief banking officer position, according to a regulatory filing.

The Golden State is home to nearly a quarter of the banks on Sandler O'Neill's annual list of the top-performing small-cap institutions, a hint that the state could be returning to its pre-recession strength. Banks in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic also had strong performances.

National Australia Bank is looking to sell more than a quarter of its holdings in Great Western Bancorp as part of the Sioux Fall, S.D., company's planned initial public offering.

A federal judge has dismissed an FDIC lawsuit against directors and officers of a failed North Carolina bank. The ruling has big implications for future cases that seek to hold senior bank management accountable for financial crisis-era failures.

The Louisiana company agreed to buy Florida Bank Group in a deal that will allow it to enter Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Tampa. It is the latest deal for a bank that has been an aggressive acquirer this year.

Southside Bancshares in Tyler, Texas, is getting out of subprime auto lending.

Former President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote address at the November event, which is expected have more than 5,000 participating students.

Pennant Management, a Wisconsin investment manager for community banks and retirement plans, sued a Florida lender for allegedly selling it more than $22.8 million in sham loans that the lender said were guaranteed by the government.

Examiners will not require community banks to adhere to new risk governance standards, but they are likely to expect community bank boards to incorporate the guidelines' fundamental principles into their oversight.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., has announced a series of executive changes following the retirement of its chief risk officer.

Citizens Community Bancorp in Eau Claire, Wis., will close three branches.

The agency has been hounding the "significantly undercapitalized" bank to provide written capital restoration and contingency plans that would include ways Doral could be sold or liquidated.

The fact that a customer has been with your bank for an extended period of time may not be as predictive of their future decisions as you think.

OceanFirst Financial in Toms River, N.J., has shed some nonperforming mortgages.