Steep legal fees used to make it difficult for smaller banks to invest in renewable energy tax credits. A new fund is looking to lower the typical legal fees that have made such investments cost-prohibitive for community banks.

WestStar Bank in El Paso, Texas, is planning to merge with First National Bank in El Paso.

Two private-equity investors have priced their offering of shares in Central Pacific Financial in Honolulu.

PBB Bancorp in Los Angeles and First Mountain Bank in Big Bear Lake, Calif., are discussing a merger.

U.S. banks are poised to score a victory in their fight to keep regulators from pinching the billions of dollars in fees they charge consumers who overdraw their accounts.

BancPlus in Ridgeland, Miss., has hired two Morgan Stanley financial advisers to lead its new wealth-management unit.

First Capital in Corydon, Ind., has agreed to buy Peoples Bancorp Inc. of Bullitt County in Shepherdsville, Ky.

The 28-year-old Young Americans Bank was founded to teach kids to save, but now the bank is focused on showing its customers how to spend wisely. CEO Richard Martinez says tots still prefer paper statements, while tweens are getting their allowance via bill pay.

Eastern Bank is considering a plan that would boost its biggest donations from $50,000 to seven-figure sums. While the plan could shrink the total number of grants given, it should also allow the organization to have more influence in certain areas.

Central Pacific Financial in Honolulu has named Catherine Ngo chief executive and also appointed a new chief financial officer.

In the wake of a report that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has identified more than 50 credit unions at risk of serving as a conduit for money laundering activities, the CU trades and regulators alike were scrambling to respond to what the NCUA suggested could be a "regulatory blind spot."

First Midwest Bancorp in Itasca, Ill., has named new heads of treasury management and private banking.

It's certainly true that as customers conduct fewer basic transactions in branches, those branches will see reduced foot traffic. But branches will remain relevant so long as they have helpful and intelligent people determined to help customers manage their finances.

Liberty Bank in Middletown, Conn., has agreed to buy Naugatuck Valley Financial in Naugatuck, Conn.

Bank marketing was once largely a function of architecture. More than anything else, customers were looking for safety and solidity and banks sought to convey those concepts through their buildings. Today, with branch traffic steadily declining, bank marketing is reinventing itself as chief marketing officers — a relatively new title in the industry — face unprecedented challenges and opportunities.

BB&T has received regulatory approval for its acquisition of Bank of Kentucky Financial, with the Federal Reserve providing a blueprint for approvals of future deals.

Democrats in the House and Senate have banded together around a regulatory relief bill for community banks, a response to broader reforms proposed by Republicans to roll back parts of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will prioritize requests for temporary office space and waive certain document-filing rules for Texas and Oklahoma banks affected by recent storms.

Blue Valley Ban Corp. in Overland Park, Kan., has agreed to acquire a branch in its hometown owned by The Federal Savings Bank in Chicago.

First National Bank Alaska in Anchorage has appointed Betsy Lawer as chairwoman.