Former Silicon Valley Bank exec Floyd Kessler joins Comerica as executive vice president and chief business control officer; Melissa Holding succeeds Michael Robinson as head of wealth management at Huntington; Goldman Sachs' Alexander Mayer is set to take on a senior position at JPMorgan Chase; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

In this week's edition of the American Banker news quiz, test your knowledge on Colorado banking legislation, the failure of Republic First Bancorp, acquisitions and more.

Nearly 15 years ago, Les Lieberman and other organizers of Porticoes Capital used a shelf charter to buy a spate of failed banks. Now they're hoping to replay the strategy.

House Republicans held a subcommittee hearing on reforming bank merger M&A, laying the groundwork to counter Biden administration efforts to make it more difficult for mergers to be approved.

CRE CLO issuance surged to $45 billion in 2021, a 137% increase from two years earlier, when buyers of apartment blocks sought to profit from the wave of workers moving to the Sun Belt from big cities.

Texas Dow Employees Credit Union has agreed to acquire Sabine State Bank and Trust in Louisiana to raise its profile in the oil-and-gas industry. The deal coincides with record levels of U.S. drilling this year.

After employees at a handful of Wells Fargo branches voted to unionize, CEO Charlie Scharf said the bank is "committed to bargaining in good faith" but also believes employees are "best served by working directly" with managers.

Consolidation has slowed since the pandemic, but UMB's agreement to buy Heartland Financial — the largest deal in three years — is one of several merger announcements in the past two weeks. Talks among other potential buyers and sellers are said to be picking up.

The failure of Republic First isn't a systemic threat or even a surprise. But the conditions that led to its failure are not all that unique and may foreshadow a secular rise in bank consolidation — one that policymakers can either embrace or resist.

In this month's roundup of top banking news: Navy Federal Credit Union officially launches its overseas banking program, Republic First Bank in Philadelphia falls to capital troubles and investor outrage, deeper looks at talks between Discover and Capital One and more.