CIC Bancshares’ sale to Heartland Financial reflect a good cultural fit between the companies, but it also shows how the seller’s management team struggled to find a suitable way to provide shareholders with liquidity.

HomeTrust Bancshares in Asheville, N.C., has agreed to pay an additional $484,000 to complete its July 2013 acquisition of BankGreenville Financial.

Recent industry’s analysis of the credit market is too good to be believed or sustained, which should raise red flags for everyone.

SunTrust has removed a clause from its severance agreement that laid-off employees claimed would have put them on call for two years to answer questions without compensation. Loss of institutional knowledge may be the cost of offshoring.

First National Bancorp in Green Forest, Ark., has agreed to buy Twin Lakes Community Bank in Flippin, Ark.

State Bank Financial in Atlanta has acquired Patriot Capital, a provider of equipment financing to gas stations and commercial petroleum users.

Prosperity has built itself into one of Texas' largest banks over the past decade and now it's beginning to reap the benefits that come with scale.

Astoria Financial, a New York City- area thrift under pressure from activist investor Basswood Capital Management to boost the share price, is exploring a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

Old National is taking advantage of low interest rates by buying more than a dozen branches in solid real estate markets. An expected accounting rule change could encourage more banks to do the same.

The Bancorp in Wilmington, Del., has agreed to sell most of its health-savings account portfolio to HealthEquity in Draper, Utah.

Anchor Bancorp in Lacey, Wash., could eventually sell itself after reaching a truce with an activist investor.

Level One Bancorp in Farmington Hills, Mich., has agreed to buy Bank of Michigan in Farmington Hills. Level One said it will pay $17 a share in cash for the $110 million-asset Bank of Michigan. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter.

Heartland Financial USA is Dubuque, Iowa, has agreed to buy CIC Bancshares in Denver.

Hancock Holding in Gulfport, Miss., reported a lower third-quarter profit, citing a decline in net interest income and higher expenses.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

City National in Los Angeles reported a 3% increase in third-quarter profit, driven by double-digit loan growth.

Iberiabank in Lafayette, La., reported higher third-quarter earnings on loan growth and because of an acquisition.

An early start, group meetings, one-on-one meetings, lunch in front of a computer screen, a ribbon-cutting for a new branch, it's all in a day's work for LeeAnne Linderman, the executive vice president of retail banking for Zions Bancorp and one of our Women to Watch. But the indefatigable Linderman still makes time for the United Way, the American Heart Association and her husband. "A Day in the Life" was our theme for the Most Powerful Women in Banking program this year.

How do you assemble and lead a great team? Get a peek at a day in the life of Susan Skerritt, Deutsche Bank's head of global transaction banking for the Americas, and listen in as she shares some of her leadership and management strategies. Skerritt was on our Women to Watch list for 2015 and 2014.

Great news: Women snagged a handful of C-level titles at big companies this week, including Ellen Alemany, Kim Hammonds and Heather Cox, and Square stands out in Silicon Valley with a leadership team that's 60% women. Bad news: the gender pay gap is growing and there are only two women among Harvard's picks for the top 100 CEOs globally. Also in the news: Blackrock's Cheryl Mills, B of A's Cathy Bessant and ICICI's Chanda Kochhar.