First California Financial Group (FCAL) — under pressure from activist investors to find a buyer — hired Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) to explore a sale or other strategic options.

New Hampshire Thrift Bancshares (NHTB) has made its first bank deal in nearly five years, agreeing to buy Nashua Bank for roughly $19.4 million.

BB&T CEO Kelly King took a lot of heat for letting a rival beat him out for RBC Bank, but his patient pursuit of the more affordable BankAtlantic instead looks wise in retrospect.

Hudson Valley Holding (HVB) in Yonkers, N.Y., reported lower second-quarter earnings after net interest income dropped from the same period a year earlier.

Alive CU, the former Blue Cross credit union known till last month as Healthcare's Cooperative CU, is expanding outside of healthcare facilities with a deal to buy two stand-alone branches from Space Coast CU.

A reluctance by community bankers to engage in a price war with bigger banks over commercial and industrial loans has allowed less-competitive commercial real estate lending to slowly make a comeback.

HF Financial (HFFC) has agreed to provide its largest shareholder with confidential information after the investor threatened to run its own candidate for the Sioux Falls, S.D., company's board.

Join the editors of American Banker and the industry's most influential policymakers, lawmakers and executives to discuss the issues that remain at the forefront of the regulatory landscape: CFPB, Volcker Rule, TAG, fair lending enforcement, Basel III and the impact the elections will have on financial institutions.

PLYMOUTH, Minn. — NCUA announced this morning it has awarded the remnants of AM Community CU, a failed $135 million Kenosha, Wis., credit union, to TruStone Financial FCU under a purchase and assumption agreement.

While I'm sure some community bankers applauded Sandy Weill's recent call to break up our nation's largest banks, I, for one, did not.

BOK Financial's (BOKF) second-quarter earnings rose from a year earlier and surpassed expectations as fee revenue increased and credit quality continued to improve.

The Small Business Lending Enhancement Act would let credit unions help small businesses and our economy without costing taxpayers a dime. Whether lifting the cap creates one job or 1,000, it would be a success.

United Bank often helps customers who have few alternatives. The minority-owned bank hopes the faith is returned as it complies with a regulatory order.

Churches aren't always pristine credits, especially in this economy. But some banks have new strategies to keep church construction loans on track.

LAKELAND, Fla. — MidFlorida CU, which has been growing its branch network on the Gulf Coast, has agreed to acquire Indian River CU, a troubled $55 million credit union on Florida's other coast.

Stiffer oversight of banks with assets of $50 billion or more will keep New York Community Bancorp, of Westbury, N.Y., out of the M&A game until a major acquisition comes along, CEO Joseph Ficalora says.

BB&T (BBT) in Winston-Salem, N.C., said Tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of BankAtlantic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after it received final approvals from the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

A former Minnesota Vikings tight end has reached a settlement with federal regulators over his alleged misdeeds at a Minneapolis-area community bank.

David Cohen, the Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, urged banks and others in the financial industry to weigh in on a regulatory plan to require institutions to identify beneficial ownership of their account holders.

Industry groups want lawmakers to extend Dodd-Frank's unlimited insurance for transaction deposits, which is now mandatory for all banks. But TAG used to be voluntary, and some say it should be again.