State Bank Financial in Atlanta has acquired Boyett Agency to serve as the foundation for a new insurance division.

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy Square 1 Financial in Durham, N.C.

Popular and FirstBank gained critical branches and deposits in a region where growth is hard to come by. Some observers said it could also benefit the island to have one less competitor.

Hudson City Bancorp in Paramus, N.J., has been released from an enforcement action with federal regulators.

Embattled mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial faces up to $26 billion in damage claims by bondholders and a greater risk of being fired as a mortgage servicer on thousands of small, private-label trusts.

The $1.4 billion-asset company said in a press release Friday that it will allow Richard Lashley, a co-founder of PL Capital, to join its board.

Regulators have shut Doral Bank, ending a tumultuous decade for the Puerto Rican bank. The $5.9 billion-asset Doral was the fourth bank to fail this year and the biggest bank to be closed since the $11 billion-asset Westernbank in Puerto Rico was shuttered in April 2010.

Jack Hartings is a vocal proponent of reduced regulation for small banks. But the CEO of Peoples Bank in Ohio wants Washington to force other industries to share the burden of improving cybersecurity and cleaning up after breaches.

Amid heartbreaking tales told by distressed homeowners and reverse mortgage holders, many community groups praised OneWest CEO Joseph Otting for spending time speaking to them and hearing their communities' concerns.

The Northeast has always been a competitive market for deposit gathering. Loan growth and the potential for rising interests are forcing banks in the region to find new ways to bring in low-cost liquidity.

Doral Financial suffered another setback as a Puerto Rican court ruled that the company is not entitled to a $230 million refund tied to overpaid taxes.

CIT's John Thain and OneWest's James Otting, scheduled to speak today at a public hearing on their $3.4 billion M&A deal, will face complaints from community activists that they owe the public more after receiving substantial government help during the financial crisis.

F&T Financial Services in Porterville, Calif., has agreed to buy Pan American Bank in Los Angeles.

OceanFirst Financial in Toms River, N.J., has agreed to buy Colonial American Bank in Middletown, N.J.

Deutsche Bank's U.S. division has hired JPMorgan Chase executive Jeff Urwin to head its corporate finance activities and co-head its corporate banking and securities business.

JPMorgan Chase's leader is the latest big bank CEO to embrace organic growth, leaving some to wonder if he really sees the benefits or is just being realistic about the struggle that would be required to get regulators to bless a deal.

Doral Financial's future took another blow after the Puerto Rican company disclosed that its bank is now viewed by regulators as being "critically undercapitalized."

JPMorgan Chase executives used an annual investor gathering to hammer home their arguments why the company's sum is more valuable than its parts and to promise investors that they will keep slicing costs.

U.S. Century Bank inDoral, Fla., has received regulatory approval for its plan to raise $65 million in capital, according to a news report.

Community Bank System in Syracuse, N.Y., has agreed to buy Oneida Financial in Oneida, N.Y.