Wealthy investors from China and the Middle East are using Citi's private bank to acquire land and fracking rights as vulnerable owners consider emergency liquidations.

Several Korean-American banks are entering markets and businesses designed to target mainstream clients and other ethnic groups. Such moves are viewed as a way to improve the bottom line as revenue growth proves daunting.

Riverview Financial in Halifax, Pa., has received state regulators' approval to buy Citizens National Bank of Meyersdale in Pennsylvania for $8 million in cash and stock.

Biddeford Savings Bank and Mechanics Savings Bank will form a holding company to help each cut costs and make bigger loans. But the thrifts are hoping to keep their own charters, and independence, over the long term.

Metro Bancorp, a company under fire from activist investors, has adopted a shareholder rights agreement that will provide common stock shareholders a dividend of one right per share.

Union Bankshares in Richmond, Va., and Entegra Financial in Franklin, N.C., are rebranding their banks.

The confirmation hearing for attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch suggested a shift in legislators' attitudes toward banks. Rather than the usual focus on banks' alleged misdeeds, lawmakers cast them as victims of government overreach in Operation Choke Point.

Georgia state regulators on Friday closed the $272 million-asset Capitol City Bank & Trust Co., in Atlanta, the third institution to fail this year.

Branch closings draw big headlines, but several large banks are entering new markets — or bulking up in underrepresented cities — by adding branches and hiring lenders. Bank of America, for instance, is planning a retail push in Denver and Minneapolis.

H&R Block in Kansas City, Mo., and BofI Holding in San Diego have pushed back the closing date for transferring ownership of H&R Block Bank.

A bank's culture cannot be chosen. Its values and goals can be. And an appropriate combination of values and goals then creates the environment to achieve a positive and lasting culture.

Bank of the Ozarks in Little Rock, Ark., and WesBanco in Wheeling, W.Va., each completed acquisitions this week.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., has solidified Lynn Harton's hold as the eventual successor to Chief Executive Jimmy Tallent.

Metro Bancorp, which has been fielding calls to sell itself for nearly a year, disclosed that CEO Gary Nalbandian will take a medical leave to undergo bypass surgery. Metro's executive team will be tasked with an ongoing effort to improve performance and remain independent.

U.S. Bancorp in Minneapolis has appointed Amy Hurd as head of its in-store and on-site banking division.

Citizens & Northern Corporation in Wellsboro, Pa., has named J. Bradley Scovill its new president and chief executive officer.

Bank Mutual Corp. is planning to close seven branches in Wisconsin.

Wilshire Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy Manhattan Bancorp's mortgage lending division.

The Puerto Rican bank faces a deadline to raise capital or sell itself. With recapitalization a challenging prospect, here's a look at how other scenarios could play out.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended Feb. 7.