When HSBC sold its branches in upstate New York, it created a big change with dozens of branches changing hands. Once the signs are changed, a number of community banks and regionals will have to work hard to keep business in those branches.

Fees paid to outside auditors appear to have been relatively stable in recent years. So have legal expenses for smaller institutions since mid-2010, when the 2,000-odd pages of the Dodd-Frank Act became law.

A Chinese businessman who founded a rice-trading company made up a story about his $60 million acquisition of a Delaware bank. He has since been arrested.

The Federal Reserve Board has entered into written agreements with two companies requiring them to serve as sources of strength for their banks.

North Carolina's Our State magazine is launching its own credit card with Greensboro-based NewBridge Bank.

What the investor fights at ECB and First California say about how hard it will be for struggling banks in prized markets to stay independent, and who is vulnerable.

We at the FDIC continue to believe the small-dollar loan model is replicable and that these loans can be cost-effective and responsive to the needs of both consumers and bankers.

Customers Bancorp, the Wyomissing, Pa., banking comany led by veteran banker Jay Sidhu, is giving up nearly 20% of its ownership to venture into the greater Washington, D.C., market.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (PNFP) in Nashville has repaid the remaining $71.6 million of the $95 million it received from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program in December 2008.

The State National Bank of Big Spring in Texas is leading a lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, becoming the first known community bank to file a lawsuit against the agency.

The risky practices at and implicit taxpayer guarantee for systemically dangerous megabanks are driving consumers to community-based banks.

Palmetto Bancshares in Greenville, S.C., is shedding more than $40 million of problem loans as part of its ongoing effort to clean up its balance sheet and return to profitability.

George L. Engelke Jr. has resigned as chairman of Astoria Financial (AF), ending his long tenure with the Lake Success, N.Y., company that included a 22-year run as its chief executive officer.

John Kanas' BankUnited seems like a small threat now, but Capital One fought hard to protect its standing in the prized Northeastern market down the road.

FirstBank of Lexington, Tenn., has named its chief banking officer as its new president.

Schiff Hardin in Charlotte, N.C., just created Schiff Hardin Strategic Advisers to help banks distance themselves from past problems and prevent them from reoccurring. The firm is led by two former Wachovia executives.

A San Antonio community bank owned by the family of prominent businessman Tom Benson is acquiring another small bank in what would be its first-ever acquisition.

Taylor Capital Group (TAYC) in Rosemont, Ill., is expanding its mortgage unit by hiring more than 60 retail mortgage professionals from Amera Mortgage in Milford, Mich.

Community banks are expanding their mortgage operations after struggling to gain ground with commercial loans.

The Federal Reserve Board has issued an enforcement orders against First Security Bank of Malta in Montana that gives the bank 30 days to become adequately capitalized or sell itself to another institution.