Spirit Community Bank is the 15th bank to get the agency's approval this year. That list also includes Community Bank of the Carolinas, which was approved in early December.

James McLemore, one of our community bankers to watch in 2019, has more energy loans to purge and must exit the Small Business Lending fund and a BSA-related enforcement action.

Both sides acknowledge where expectations haven't been met, and are feeling the same market pressures to adapt faster.

Both sides acknowledge where expectations haven't been met, and are feeling the same market pressures to adapt faster.

The branch closures will reduce overhead by an estimated $1.9 million a year.

HarborOne Bancorp — led by James Blake, one of our five community bankers to watch in 2019 — is a former credit union that recently made its first bank acquisition and has Boston and other markets in its sights.

The pressure is on CEO Christopher Myers, one of our community bankers to watch, to make the most of CVB Financial's biggest acquisition to date.

Investors are spooked by banks' exposure to oil and other sectors threatened by a global slowdown as well as by policy uncertainties, but banks argue credit quality is strong and recession fears are exaggerated.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based credit union purchased the facility from Atlantic Coast Bank for $2.2 million.

Cadence has upped the exchange ratio by 10%, a move made necessary by the 40% decline in its stock price since the deal was announced in May.

While these five bankers made headlines this year, not all of them did so for good reasons.

The settlement of a fight with an insurance company over officer and director coverage yielded a $6 million payout for FNCB in Dunmore.

A big splash by Fifth Third, a bid by WSFS to reinvent itself and some bold long-distance expansions highlighted a year where deal activity held steady but premiums rose.

CBTX said an unauthorized person obtained personal information for about 7,800 customers.

The combination of CCF Holding, Heritage Bancorp. and Providence Bank will create a $1 billion-asset institution. Veteran bank investor Kenneth Lehman will be its chairman.

More banks were approved this year than any since the financial crisis. But challenges with raising capital, and a change in the political landscape, could deter prospective applicants next year.

Selling $1.6 billion in mortgages, and paying off a similar amount of wholesale borrowings, will allow the company to expand its net interest margin in 2019.

The federal banking regulators have proposed allowing more directors and management officials to serve at more than one institution in an effort to provide relief to community banks.

David Rupp was CEO of Four Oaks Fincorp in North Carolina when it sold itself to United Community Banks last year.

The FDIC has approved more new banks this year than in the last four years combined. Here is a look at the class of 2018.