Synovus (SNV) in Columbus, Ga., is planning to replace two directors and pursue a 1-for-7 reverse stock split.

Fees on checking accounts continue to climb, especially at the largest banks, as free checking accounts slowly become an endangered species. But the price creep doesn't seem to have cost them customers.

OceanFirst Financial (OCFC) in Toms River, N.J., has added its president and chief operating officer to its board.

American National Bank in Oakland Park, Fla., has been freed from an enforcement action from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

BancAlliance processed its first member referral for a shared credit, providing hope that banks are starting to regain trust in each other to land bigger borrowers.

The Baltimore company, which is looking to sell its bank through bankruptcy, secured a judge's support for a proposal requiring advance notice before big investors try and sell common stock.

Stilwell Group is irate that Poage Bankshares has agreed to buy another Kentucky bank. The activist investor would prefer to see the company buy back stock and, eventually, find a buyer.

First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) in Raleigh, N.C., said that another key member of its controlling family is stepping down.

Ameris Bancorp (ABCB) in Moultrie, Ga., has received regulatory approval to buy back its remaining preferred stock tied to the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Central Pacific Financial (CPF) in Honolulu will repurchase a large block of stock from two investors.

It doesn't take much for regulators to kill a product. Last April, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray compared banks' deposit-advance loans to payday loans. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. followed by issuing stricter guidelines. Since then every bank that offered the product has dropped it. Following is a timeline of the deposit-advance loan's demise.

Colonial Virginia Bank (CNVB) in Gloucester, Va., has revised its yearly earnings downward after a required adjustment to pension costs.

Smaller institutions see a potential opportunity in fee-laden accounts for pot businesses, but their larger counterparts see mostly risk.

It has been a year after Stifel bought Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a quest for more scale in the area of bank advisory services. Thomas Michaud, KBW's CEO, reflects on the past year and evaluates trends and forces in bank M&A and capital raising in coming months.

Cattaraugus County Bank in Little Valley, N.Y., has announced a succession plan for its chief executive.

Maj. Gen. Josue Robles will leave the company in the first quarter of 2015, the company said in a press release Friday.

Critics have complained recently that bank regulators and the Justice Department have been overstepping their legal authority and acting like moral police. American Banker staffers discuss what's behind the charges and whether they stand up to scrutiny.

CenterState Banks (CSFL) in Davenport, Fla., has appointed Ed Kofman to head its loan trading and hedge desk as managing director.

Mercantile Bank (MBWM) in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Firstbank (FBMI) in Alma, Mich., are extending the termination date for their delayed merger.

Union State Bank in Arkansas City, Kan., has had a member of the Docking family at its helm for more than 50 years. That is about to change.