Peoples Bancorp in Marietta, Ohio, has raised $40 million through a private placement.

Peyton Patterson has resigned from Bankwell Financial in New Canaan, Conn., less than two months after she was ordered to pay $350,000 in Amex bills and had to resolve other personal financial matters. She had led the company since 2012.

A loyal patron of the Connecticut bank celebrated her upcoming 95th birthday with some flowers courtesy of the CEO and a chauffeured ride to the annual meeting.

Ocean Bank in Miami has signed a three-year agreement to put its name at the top of Florida International University's football stadium.

Heritage Bank in Jonesboro, Ga., became one of the first banks to retire trust-preferred securities held by the FDIC after a complex, year-long negotiation. The transaction could be a model for dozens of other lenders trying to avoid default and possible bankruptcy.

Carolina Financial in Charleston, S.C., has agreed to acquire 13 branches in the Carolinas and additional assets from First Community Bancshares in Bluefield, Va.

Northrim BanCorp in Anchorage, Alaska, has agreed to buy Residential Mortgage Holding Co.

Hal Brown and Roger Busse discuss how a thorough succession plan can reassure your regulators, why medical lending has been so hot recently and how to stand out among larger competitors.

The private-equity firms Warburg Pincus and Thomas H. Lee Partners are selling roughly a third of their combined stake in Umpqua Holdings of Portland, Ore.

The $5.6 billion-asset Talmer Bancorp said in a press release Wednesday that it will pay $13.4 million in cash for First of Huron, the parent of Signature Bank.

BancorpSouth has withdrawn applications for two planned acquisitions after the Tupelo, Miss., company drew regulatory scrutiny for its Bank Secrecy Act compliance.

Independent Bank Corp. has spent recent years looking for a way to break into Boston without overpaying. It recently found a steal in Peoples Federal, a former mutual, in a deal that boosts earnings and tangible book value.

The members of Monterey Credit Union have voted to convert from a CU charter to a mutual savings bank, the first step on the way to becoming a commercial savings bank.

Creating deeper bonds with business clients can help banks win market share. But organizational inertia and sales managers who are quick to fall back on old habits often hobble this approach, according to consultant Duncan Banfield.

While bankers' reputation as the unquestioned authorities on financial services may be changing, the importance of face-to-face interactions has not lessened, according to contributor Dave Martin.

Independent Bank in Rockland, Mass., has agreed to buy Peoples Federal Bancshares in Brighton.

Ocean Shore Holding in New Jersey has completed a buyback of 200,000 shares of its common stock and has authorized an additional repurchase program.

Stronger margins are no automatic byproduct of next year's anticipated increase in interest rates. Higher rates are expected to spark a runoff of deposits at various banks, and some of those banks are more vulnerable than others to steep losses of low-cost funding.

Banks with at least $10 billion in assets are becoming more aggressive when it comes to giving out small business loans, but the group still approves credit at a much smaller rate than its competitors, a Biz2Credit study found.

As consolidation picks up, buyers and sellers must examine their vendor contracts to make sure terms and pricing are in their favor.