The NCUA approved a serices of mergers for billion-dollar-plus credit unions, which are gobbling up smaller troubled institutions at an accelerating pace.

A dissident shareholder's bid to win a seat on the board of HF Financial Corp. received a boost Friday after an independent advisory firm endorsed his candidacy.

CommunityBank of Texas has appointed a longtime Houston banker as its president.

Ed Willingham, president of the North Carolina company, was elected a director of the Richmond Fed.

The Maryland bank is to serve as escrow agent for $618 million from a legal settlement between Native American farmers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The lawsuit alleged discrimination against Indian farmers in obtaining agricultural loans.

Freed from an enforcement order that had restricted its growth, Royal Bancshares Inc. in Narberth, Pa., has brought in a seasoned veteran to lead its expansion in small-business lending.

Hampden Bancorp Inc. in Springfield, Mass., has promoted its business banking executive to become president and chief operating officer.

Two regulators-turned-consultants, invoking a famous Ronald Reagan quote, are really "here to help" this time.

Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati has appointed a Humana Inc. executive to its board.

Toronto-Dominion Bank and TCF Financial Corp. said Thursday they had completed separate acquisition deals — TD for almost all of MBNA Canada's credit card portfolio, TCF for auto lender Gateway One.

Sheshunoff & Co. has devised a three-part quiz to determine if a troubled bank offers a good bargain or is too risky to purchase.

A recent American Banker online survey asked what to do about unprofitable customers. Most responders said that bankers must be more "creative" and find profitable ways to keep these customers.

Analysts debate the benefits of getting into wealth management and insurance vs. sticking to traditional lending.

The names of 18 former CapitalBank branches in South Carolina have been changed to Park Sterling Bank.

Union First Market Bankshares Corp. in Richmond, Va., said Thursday that it will redeem preferred stock issued to the Treasury Department as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Jimmy Didden of National Capitol doesn't believe that intense regulation of the big banks will make the system or the economy any stronger.

North Jersey Community began having networking breakfasts for female business owners in the area and converted some to clients who turned out to be strong advocates for the bank.

A 'silent migration' in bank supervision has some institutions switching from federal to state charters.

Banks launched later in the decade, whose ramps to profitability lagged their predecessors’, provide a cautionary tale about headwinds that can emerge in an unstable economy, and the dangers of piling into a strategy based on brokered deposits and real estate lending.