Integrations

The banking industry, in the face of prolonged challenges, is relying on professional help to improve in areas such as productivity, hiring and M&A. The hope is that being introspective now will limit the amount of costly mistakes in the future.

A mature governance framework and risk culture that reaches all employees are among the attributes of a high-functioning "risk organization."

The bank's approval last year to buy OneWest Bank included a condition to submit an updated Community Reinvestment Act plan, but the CRA program now being presented by CIT is far from adequate.

Banks that prioritize structural changes in their compliance process will make risk frameworks more effective and sustainable over time.

Wintrust Financial's fourth-quarter earnings fell 7% from a year earlier, to $35.5 million, as a revenue surge failed to offset the higher costs associated with recent acquisitions.

The physical branch network is not dead, but to ensure its viability banks need to get serious about trimming it down and combining branches with digital channels.

Unlike the bargain-heavy aftermath of the crisis, acquisitions during the recovery have been hampered by high premiums and unsatisfactory returns.

BofI Holding's CEO Greg Garrabrants should be basking in the glow of his bank's record earnings growth and its potentially transformative acquisition of H&R Block Bank. Instead, he's fighting to regain the confidence of shareholders spooked by allegations that the online bank violated anti-money-laundering laws.

Bank of the Ozarks' taste for M&A means its information-technology staff has to juggle integration projects and experiments with new software, mobile and other technologies.

Talented lenders and anxious clients should expect a full-court press from Pennsylvania's community banks as they look to take market share from of the state's newcomer.

Cascade Bancorp took less than two weeks to integrate its last acquisition, and CEO Terry Zink explains one of the big reasons: officials at the Oregon bank spent months beforehand with an outside firm practicing the conversion.

BB&T's top executives are set to get up to $2.6 million in bonuses if the Susquehanna deal goes well. While viewed as a good way to make sure the deal works out well, some analysts note that M&A already contributes to executive compensation when it boosts earnings per share and return metrics.

The Dallas investment group completed its tender offer for Mechanics Bank last month, culminating a three-year hunt for a target to serve as the base of its roll-up strategy. With that piece in place, the company is looking to buy other banks in northern California

The company recently completed its purchase of Central Bancshares. Following a methodically spaced-out integration, management expects it will be in a special position to do more deals in the state because MidWestOne is publicly traded.

Kevin Cummings, the New Jersey company's CEO, transformed Investors to sizable bank prior to its second-step conversion last May. With $2.2 billion in capital and an updated core system, Cummings has his sights on the company's next growth phase.

The $691 million-asset Howard will pay $10.1 million, or $5.09 a share, in cash and stock for the $226 million-asset Patapsco.

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

Sunshine Bancorp in Plant City, Fla., has agreed to buy Community Southern Holdings in Lakeland, Fla.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., has hired the wealth management team of Denver Retirement Partners.

Peoples Community National Bank in Bremen, Ga., has changed its name and logo.