Federal banking regulators have signed off on Umpqua Holdings' (UMPQ) agreement to buy Sterling Financial (STSA).

Old Second Bancorp (OSBC) in Aurora, Ill., is tempering its expectations for its planned public offering.

John and Bill Wheeler went as far as giving away foreclosed properties to reduce maintenance fees and bad assets. As a result, State Bank of Countryside has returned to profitability and is ready to start lending again.

Independence Bancshares, (IEBS) in Greenville, S.C., has filed multiple mobile payment patent technology applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has launched an initial public offering that could yield as much as $223 million for the company and its shareholders.

Fidelity Southern (LION) in Atlanta has filed documents that would allow it to issue up to $100 million in stock, warrants and debt.

Poppi Metaxas, the former president and chief executive of Gateway Bank in Oakland, Calif., has been accused of orchestrating a fraud scheme to disguise the bank's crumbling financial condition.

The lender's new series of unscripted commercials feature members of the improv comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade.

Iberiabank (IBKC) in Lafayette, La., is seeking federal approval to convert a Fort Lauderdale loan production office into a full-service branch.

BancorpSouth, an active M&A player in the Gulf Coast region, is losing four directors, including longtime Chairman Aubrey Patterson, while adding two others.

The largest and most powerful arm of the central bank of the U.S. has finally admitted the megabank emperors have no clothes. It is past time that we as a nation get to the bottom of this dangerous threat and fix it

Bridgehampton National Bank (BDGE) in New York has expanded its ATM network to include 20 self-service machines bearing its trademark sailboat logo.

AnchorBank in Madison, Wis., has been released from two enforcement actions from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Gulf Coast Community Bank in Pensacola, Fla., has taken a significant step towards long-term recovery.

Royal Bank of Scotland says it still plans to sell part of its interest in RBS Citizens later this year. American Banker examines various outcomes for the U.S. bank, ranging from an IPO to an outright sale.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated an April 2013 enforcement action against Freedom Bancorp in Lindstrom, Minn.

Drew Breakspear spent decades as a banker before becoming the top industry enforcer in Florida. He is empathetic to banks, realizes the growing importance of virtual currencies like Bitcoin and believes more bankers should serve on the Fed's Board of Governors.

Customers Bancorp (CUBI) in Wyomissing, Pa., disclosed unexpectedly high sequential loan growth in the first quarter.

Distressed-bank rollups were all the rage among private-equity and hedge fund investors in the early days of the financial crisis. The results have been decidedly mixed, as the following examples illustrate.

Charles H. Keating, whose leadership of a California savings and loan made him the face of a banking crisis and a millstone around the politicians who tried to help him, has died. He was 90.