Four bank holding companies have been freed from regulatory enforcement actions, the Federal Reserve Board announced Tuesday.

Midstate Bancorp in Baltimore has filed paperwork to sell up to $34.4 million in stock as part of a planned conversion to a stock company. Sandler O'Neill is assisting with the offering.

Wayne Griest, Continental's chief executive, once worked with Bryn Mawr's CEO at another institution. That familiarity came in handy as the two banks began discussing the potential of a merger.

The New York company has emerged from a regulatory order with a stated goal of branching out from a longtime focus on commercial real estate by adding specialty-lending lines. Now management is looking to leverage a huge cash buffer and strong deposit base.

Thanks to redevelopment efforts in the once-neglected downtown areas of Buffalo, Detroit and other cities, banks are seeing improvements to their bottom lines. Banks and developers credit a federal historic tax credit program for the results.

Organic loan growth propelled the Internet banking company BofI Holding (BOFI) to record profits in the quarter that ended March 31.

UMB Financial (UMBF) in Kansas City, Mo., has agreed to buy the corporate trust business of RCB Bank in Claremore, Okla.

First Mid-Illinois Bancshares (FMBH) in Mattoon, Ill., has received approval from the Nasdaq Stock Market to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market.

Green Bancorp in Houston has agreed to buy SP Bancorp (SPBC) in Plano, Texas.

First American Bank in Elk Grove Village, Ill., has agreed to buy Bank of Coral Gables in Florida.

Union Bank has entered into a strategic alliance with Lending Club, a peer-to peer lending marketplace provider that connects creditworthy borrowers with investors.

Regulators are seeking to limit risky behavior. Shareholders are intent on paying for performance. The result in 2013 was modest gains for bank CEOs and a shift to long-term payouts.

First National Bank of Southern California announced Monday that it is acquiring First Mountain Bank in Big Bear Lake, Calif., in a deal that would roughly double its size.

Employee turnover remains high in the banking industry. Financial institutions are trying several different tactics to keep intellectual property from leaving when an employee jumps ship.

With nearly a third of bank tellers on public assistance nationwide, labor advocates are pushing banks to increase pay for workers at the low end of the spectrum.

The company, which agreed to buy Continental Bank in Pennsylvania, has the "firepower" for more deals as it looks to build the size to match its existing cost structure, CEO Ted Peters says.

Banking is dominated by leaders who are straight, white and male, despite copious evidence that greater diversity at senior management levels improves companies' performance. American Banker editors discuss why diversity efforts are falling short at banks and regulatory agencies, and what executives can do to fix these problems.

Doral Financial (DRL) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is developing a revised capital plan to address concerns from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Bankers provide customers with a huge range of services free of charge. If banks want to compensate for the rising cost of those services, that's got to change.