A group of investors led by Mexico's Banca Mifel and backed by the U.S. private equity giant Apollo Global Management are in talks with banks for about $2 billion of financing for their bid to buy Citigroup's Mexican retail unit Banamex.

Royal Bank of Canada agreed to buy HSBC Holdings' Canadian unit — the country's seventh-largest bank — for C$13.5 billion ($10 billion) in cash, expanding its roster of business clients and bulking up its retail presence on the West Coast as HSBC focuses on Asia.

The Canadian banking giant reached a five-year deal with community groups that includes $40 billion in investments to underserved groups. BMO aims to close its acquisition of San Francisco-based Bank of the West before the end of the year.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he approves of the two known remaining bidders for Citigroup's Mexican retail unit, after other potential buyers were derailed amid strict conditions put forth by Mexico's leader.

M&T lends a hand in the Keystone State, fintech-bank deal is delayed and more in banking news this week.

The $1.1 billion-asset Sikorsky Financial would combine with Bridgeport City Employees Federal Credit Union, which has $32 million of assets.

Banks are underwater on many bonds they bought before interest rates began their sharp rise. The impact has been wide-ranging — decreasing the industry's interest in stock buybacks, dampening the appetite for M&A and raising concerns about some smaller institutions' ability to borrow from the Federal Home Loan banks.

The bank has agreed to pay $113 million for the $500 million-asset Surrey Bancorp, which specializes in credit for small to midsize commercial clients as well as government-guaranteed loans.

The subprime consumer lender, whose stock price has sagged this year, is being sold to an asset management firm. Elevate's CEO told employees that "the current market conditions present a challenging backdrop for our organization and so many others in the consumer finance industry."

Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives will help advance financial services firms' priorities, with a wish list that includes curbing ambitious proposals by a top markets regulator and diminishing the clout of a popular U.S. consumer watchdog.