When banks realize they are unable to continue their operations, a credit union is often a natural partner to consider.

South Carolina's Optus Bank appoints Benita Lefft its new president; B2B marketplace DesignRush releases its hottest states for digital business growth; Morgan Stanley announces Ellen Zentner's newly created team within the bank's investment wing; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index was up 18% year to date through July, supporting expectations for more banks to use their shares as currency to take out competitors.

Former employees' Minnesota lawsuit accuses the bank of overpaying for prescription drugs, claiming mismanagement of the bank's health plan drove up costs for workers.

Berkshire still holds almost 962 million shares, the filing shows — worth $39.5 billion at Monday's closing price.

Despite the continuing trends of consolidation and limited startup activity, bankers and industry insiders say there is a path forward. But small lenders must evolve with changing technology.

The five largest bank M&A deals had an average deal value of more than $1.2 billion.

The Kansas City, Missouri-based regional bank said it is making progress on its pending purchase of Heartland Financial USA in Denver. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2025.

In this month's roundup of top banking news, how the widespread CrowdStrike outage affected banks of all sizes, JPMorgan Chase's new tech bet for combating rising fraud, what Project 2025 could mean for bankers and more.

The top five banks and thrifts had combined assets of more than $13 trillion as of March 31, 2024.