WSFS Financial in Wilmington, Del., holds the picture contest to engage customers and employees while highlighting improvements to its mobile banking.

Dorothy Savarese knows as well as any community banker the frustrations from mounting regulation. Empirical studies can illuminate compliance burdens — and their broader consequences — for policymakers, the Massachusetts thrift executive says.

Fox Chase Bancorp in Hatboro, Pa., has won permission to ditch its federal charter.

The chief operating officer of CCFNB Bancorp in Bloomsburg, Pa., plans to retire.

Big banks once again widened their lead in deposits, according to the FDIC's yearly survey. Community banks lost ground nationwide, but they held their own in small cities and rural areas. Plus, small banks slowed deposit-gathering because they're already too liquid.

WSFS Financial (WSFS) recently launched its fifth annual pet photo contest. Customers and others submit snapshots of their furry friends, like this one last year from Courtney Heal in Newark, Del., of Bruno, an 8-month-old Great Dane, and his playmate, 22-month old Braedon.

Southwest Bancorp is merging its banks in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas into one national charter under the new name Bank SNB.

Some areas of the country are enjoying hot bank-deal markets while others are stone cold-including some over-banked ones. Robert Barba, American Banker's Chicago-based M&A reporter, explains what's behind the numbers.

Franklin Synergy Bank in Franklin, Tenn., is planning to raise money from institutional investors as a prelude to a public offering.

TotalBank in Miami, Fla., has given President Luis de la Aguilera the additional job of chief executive.

The $126 million-asset company expects to be eligible to deregister because its common stock has fewer than 300 shareholders, according a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Monarch Community Bancorp (MCBF) in Coldwater, Mich., has raised $16.5 million in a private placement that will allow it to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

First Community Financial Partners in Joliet, Ill., has repurchased a large chunk of shares from private investors that acquired the shares from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Carrollton Bancorp's main private-equity backer, Eric Hovde, the president and chief executive of the Hovde Private Equity Advisors, is joining its board.

BOK Financial (BOKF) has agreed to acquire GTRUST Financial, an independent trust and asset management company in Topeka, Kan.

Hanmi Financial (HAFC) in Los Angeles has hired a handful of banking executives from rival Korean-American lender BBCN Bank (BBCN).

Georgia Commerce's agreement to buy Brookhaven Bank in Atlanta is a sign that it is becoming more financially advantageous to sell out instead of raising capital, especially in a recovering market like Georgia's.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that U.S. regulators don't want to harm community bankers still ailing from the financial crisis.

Bank buyers should run potential deals by regulators early to avoid "landmines" and speed applications, officials from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency say. Proper due diligence, succession planning and risk management are among the things they look for.

FirstBank in Lakewood, Colo., has announced plans to acquire a branch in Palm Desert, Calif., from El Paseo Bank.