Financial Services Roundtable CEO Tim Pawlenty discusses how banks can better sell themselves to new, young professionals, and how financial services firms are going to increasingly resemble technology companies.

Chemical Financial (CHFC) in Midland, Mich., expects to raise $70 million through the sale of common stock.

Meridian Bank Texas in Fort Worth has acquired State Bank & Trust in Carrolton, Texas.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is calling on the White House to select a nominee to the Federal Reserve Board with community banking experience.

Six directors resigned after the company contested an activist investor's successful effort to wrest board control. As a court battle looms and regulators watch, the company could struggle to find replacement directors.

Most people agree there are too many branches, but when a recent research report suggested exactly how many (lots) each bank should cut, bankers circled the wagons.

ViewPoint Financial Group in Plano, Texas, has pushed back the expected closing date for its purchase of LegacyTexas Group, citing a lengthy regulatory approval process.

Allpoint, the global surcharge-free ATM network operated by Cardtronics, will begin to accept check and cash deposits at more than 2,500 U.S. locations by the end of 2014.

Alfred DelliBovi, the former chief executive of Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, will join the board of Flushing Financial Corporation (FFIC) in Lake Success, N.Y.

Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania in Souderton has agreed to buy Valley Green Bank in Mount Airy, Pa.

Highlands Bankshares (HBKA) in Abingdon, Va., has registered nearly $18 million in common and preferred stock for certain shareholders, directors and executives.

Forcht Bancorp in Lexington, Ky., has agreed to buy Grant County Bancorp of Williamstown, Ky. Financial terms of Forcht's agreement to buy the $79 million-asset Grant Country Bancorp were not disclosed.

Federal regulators have fined First Southern Bank (FSOF) in Boca Raton, Fla., for violating the National Flood Insurance Act.

Once heavy on grey type, Bank of North Carolina's reports are now dotted with colorful graphs, charts and heat maps so that busy senior executives and board members can quickly assess things like loan data and branch profitability and keep better tabs on the integration of acquired banks.

The numerous recent retailer data breaches have led issuers, like BankPlus in Belzoni, Miss., to realize that they may have to replace most of their cards with little or no warning.

The agency has been applauded for efforts to shorten the application process for certain 7(a) loans, though the move has also raised concerns about the potential for loosened underwriting.

Aging board members and bank executives can pose a threat to successful strategic planning, which requires the ability to think decades into the future.

Cambridge Bancorp in Boston is looking for a chief executive to succeed Joseph Roller when he retires next year.

First Financial Bancorp of Cincinnati has pushed back the expected closing date for its acquisitions of First Bexley Bank and Insight Bank, pending a review by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Six directors at Solera National Bancorp (SLRK) have resigned as the Lakewood, Colo., company remains embroiled in a messy public struggle with its biggest investor.