First Farmers and Merchants Bank in Columbia, Tenn., has hired a former Regions Financial banker to run its wealth management operations.

The $1.1 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation had terminated a May 2013 order against its Talbot Bank.

BankUnited in Miami Lakes, Fla., has hired Hakim Kassam, a former Wells Fargo banker, to run its small business finance department.

A former chief financial officer at Bank of McKenney in McKenney, Va., has been indicted on two counts of embezzlement.

First Commonwealth Bank in Indiana, Pa., has agreed to buy First Community Bank in Columbus, Ohio, for about $15 million in cash.

Flushing Financial in Uniondale, N.Y., has sold three branch properties in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Top-performing community banks have found different ways to provide double-digit returns, despite numerous challenges facing the banking industry.

Looking past standard gauges of return on equity and return on assets, bank investors have wide opinions on what makes a bank a high-performing institution relative to peers.

A number of this year's top-performing banks have been able to ride the highs and lows of the economic cycle to still produce long-term returns to investors.

What makes for a high-performing bank? We take an in-depth look at what drove profitability for the institutions at the top of our annual rankings, all of which are based on three-year average returns on equity. See the list of banks and thrifts with under $2 billion in assets or the mid-tiers with $2 billion to $10 billion of assets. Stay tuned as those with $10 billion to $50 billion of assets are still to come.

Rates are low and compliance costs are rising. But banks with $2 billion or less in assets still have momentum in several key areas, based on data compiled by Capital Performance Group.

The Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation closed the $90 million-asset Edgebrook Bank in Chicago on Friday.

CertusBank's chief executive, who joined the Greenville, S.C., company after its founders were fired last year, has left his post due to a medical issue.

Trading of securities backed by Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie is down sharply since the beginning of the year. Bankers' concerns about capital and rates are among the reasons, and the problem may ultimately make the underlying market for mortgages less liquid.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including how convenience may help banks beat out Silicon Valley and whether community banks can reduce their regulatory burden on their own.

Investors have varied expectations of how banks should build and deploy capital. Ultimately, management teams need to stick to their growth plans rather than serve the whims of specific shareholders.

Baylake Corp. in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., has agreed to buy New Bancshares in Kewaunee, Wis.

A dysfunctional culture can harm banks' long-term viability and share value growth. Luckily, these problems can be fixed by encouraging team accountability, empowering employees to make decisions, and showing appreciation for staffers.

Hanmi Financial in Los Angeles is planning to close four branches.

Premier Financial Bancorp in Huntington, W.Va., has completed its exit from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.