American Banker's digital news coverage took top honors at the 2013 Eddie & Ozzie Awards Thursday.

A group of First National Community Bancorp's (FNCB) current and former directors have agreed to pay $5 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit claiming that they failed to properly oversee risky practices.

There are now less than 6,900 banks in the United States, the smallest number of financial companies since the Great Depression — and bankers expect the industry to contract even more in coming years. American Banker editors discuss the stakes for community banks and why the country still needs thousands of small banks.

As consumer groups turn their attention to smaller institutions, they bring lending disparities to regulators’ attention. The regulators seem to take these issues more seriously than during bank megamergers’ heyday.

A decision by Popular (BPOP) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to reduce its stake in a former technology subsidiary could help it exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

United Community Financial (UCFC) in Youngstown, Ohio, has been released from a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and state regulators.

WSFS Financial received more than 1,300 submissions to its annual pet photo contest, and donated roughly $2,500 to the Delaware Humane Association.

TCF Financial (TCB) in Wayzata, Minn., has hired a former executive from State Farm Bank to become its chief credit officer.

The $890 million-asset company exceeded its goal of raising $15 million after it received investments from local shareholders in addition to institutional investors, according to a press release Wednesday.

The $339 million-asset bank said in a press release Wednesday that it chose the new name to distinguish itself from other businesses that also use the word "Columbia."

Banco Sabadell in Spain has agreed to buy JGB Bank in Miami.

Patriot Financial Partners, a Philadelphia PE firm that specializes in community banks, has agreed to buy more than 1.5 million shares of Banc of California for $13.25 each, a price 6% higher than the company's Tuesday closing price of $12.46 a share.

The founding CEO of Bank of Bird-in-Hand was told by regulators that his group's "thorough" vetting would be the norm going forward.

The Treasury Department estimates that it made more than $13.1 million from the sale of warrants in Cathay General Bancorp (CATY).

Following tectonic shifts in the video rental industry, the very Blockbuster stores that were just yesterday a competitive advantage rather quickly became an albatross. That type of chain of events is one that bankers need to be especially on guard for.

There’s a reason most Americans still like their local banks, even if they detest the megabanks after the financial crisis.

Dan Benhase will retire next year as head of its wealth management, government and home lending group, the Columbus, Ohio, bank said in a press release Tuesday.

ViewPoint Financial Group is acquiring LegacyTexas in hopes of creating a large community bank solely focused on the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, bucking a 2013 trend in Texas and across the country of using M&A to enter complementary markets.

Frustrated by the lack of new banking charters, two banking trade groups are urging the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to relax restrictions on startup institutions.

The Treasury Department was set Tuesday to sell the warrants it held in Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) in Los Angeles.