Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) will sell a 25% stake in its Citizens Financial Group unit in the U.S. and shrink its investment bank to boost capital, the British bank said Thursday.

The well-connected consulting firm has hired Joe Petro, a former Secret Service agent who ran Citigroup's security and investigative services for 20 years. Citi has replaced him with Brian Parr, another prominent agency veteran.

Organic loan growth and expense control are the top priorities at F.N.B. and People's United, but their CEOs also eager to accelerate expansion in markets where they are relative newcomers.

Healthier sellers are searching for growth partners instead of saviors, and buyers seeking greater density in their current markets are ready to oblige.

Large banks have been relatively inactive in the market for targets with less than $2 billion of assets, once a staple.

Louisiana Bancorp (LABC) in Metairie has wound up one stock buyback program and is beginning another.

A federal appeals court voided a $5.2 million settlement intended to resolve allegations that Encore Capital Group Inc. used false affidavits and other illegal tactics to collect debts.

JPMorgan Chase on Tuesday convened its top executives to discuss its growth strategies. Expansion will be hard as it cuts 17,000 jobs over two years, wrestles with new regulations and rethinks branching.

Bond Street announced Tuesday it would acquire Atlantic Coast Financial for roughly $13 million in cash, but 40% of the consideration is being set aside to handle any potential shareholder suits.

Oriental Financial Group (OFG) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, hopes a new name will reflect a recent expansion.

First Scottsdale Bank in Arizona is buying a larger lender in Tucson, the Phoenix Business Journal reported Tuesday.

Standard Bancshares in Hickory Hills, Ill., has completed a capital raise from private-equity firms and named two directors.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is selling off a chunk of its mortgage servicing operation to a Dallas company that specializes in servicing distressed debt.

After a four-year hiatus from M&A, Glacier Bancorp has agreed to buy a Wyoming bank and wants to do several more deals.

Cost consciousness appears to have an echo in the way banks are configuring their branch networks: the typical office holds more deposits than it used to.

Bond Street Holdings has agreed to pay a premium of nearly 50% for the struggling Atlantic Coast, the companies announced Tuesday. Atlantic Coast announced it was exploring the possibility of a merger more than a year ago.

Glacier Bancorp (GBCI) in Kalispell, Mont., has reached an agreement to buy Wheatland Bankshares Wheatland, Wyo.

FirstMerit (FMER) in Akron, Ohio, has named a president of its Michigan operations as it prepares to enter the state.

Too-big-too-fail worries in the U.S. make the full sale of Royal Bank of Scotland's Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., highly unlikely, despite speculation about potential buyers.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended February 23.