Regulators let Synovus acquire a failed bank — its first deal in four years — though it still owes Tarp $968 million. A surprising number of similar deals have occurred in recent years.

Peoples Bancorp (PEBO) in Marietta, Ohio, has bought three insurance agencies in Jackson, Ohio.

Commerce Bancshares in Kansas City, Mo., has struck a deal for Summit Bancshares of Tulsa that would nearly double its asset base in Oklahoma.

U.S. private equity firm JC Flowers & Co., run by ex-Goldman Sachs banker Christopher Flowers, will acquire British debt collector Cabot Credit Management from AnaCap Financial Partners.

Lowell Group, a purchaser of non-performing consumer debt portfolios in the United Kingdom, Thursday announced the acquisition of Interlaken Group.

Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) has agreed to acquire about $40 million of deposits and a Las Vegas branch from SWNB Bancorp, marking Cathay's entrance in the Vegas market.

Central Arizona Bank, a unit of Capitol Bancorp, was set to be shut down with two sister banks last Friday, but a legal challenge bought it a few extra days.

Union Bank in San Francisco is expanding its services for homeowners' associations with a deal to buy First Bank Association Bank Services in Vallejo, Calif..

Atlantic Coast Financial's (ACFC) quarterly loss widened as its lending income fell and expenses rose.

State regulators seized a third bank unit of Capitol Bancorp., $31.6 million-asset Central Arizona Bank in Scottsdale, Ariz, in a rare Tuesday failure.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) is selling its Brazilian credit card and consumer finance business to Banco Itaú Unibanco.

Independent Bank Corp. (INDB) agreed to acquire Mayflower Bancorp (MFLR) in its second deal for a Massachusetts company in the past year.

Popular in Puerto Rico is selling another book of loans as part of its attack on credit problems. The multimillion-dollar hit from the sale will be offset by a gain from the IPO of a payments processor.

Bill Smith, the head of Capital City Bank Group in Tallashassee, Fla., speaks for many bankers when he says he's ready to start buying banks after eight years on the sidelines -- but not for another 18 months. Or more.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended May 11.

A court deadline this week and the failure of two of Capitol's banks last week have added to the Lansing, Mich., company's increasingly tense bankruptcy.

First Merchants in Muncie, Ind., was looking to get closer — but not too close — to the Chicago market when it agreed to buy CFS Bancorp of Munster, Ind.

Financial journalists sometimes refer to M&A bankers as "rainmakers." Do they make it rain, or do they just take credit when it starts raining?

Old Line Bancshares in Bowie, Md., has appointed Mark Semanie as its chief operating officer to help manage its recent growth.

The Chicago-area company has started financing employee stock-ownership plans as a way to eke more business out of commercial clients.