Citigroup has managed to train the chief executives of a number of leading banking and card network execs over the years, despite its well-documented troubles.

UnionBanCal in in San Francisco has completed its $1.5 billion purchase of Pacific Capital Bancorp (PCBC) in Santa Barbara, Calif. The deal, which the companies announced in March and closed Saturday, merged the $5.9 billion Santa Barbara Bank & Trust into the $88.2 billion Union Bank, which is wholly owned by Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.

The acquisition will add more than 1,500 mortgage risk specialists to service provider MphasiS and help the company provide more intense mortgage risk analysis.

Nicolet National Bank in Green Bay, Wis., is buying Mid-Wisconsin Bank of Medford in a deal that would combine one of the state's oldest banks with one of its newest.

Equifax (EFX) has agreed to buy the credit services business of Computer Sciences (CSC) for $1 billion in cash.

Equifax will pay $1 billion in cash to buy the credit services business of Computer Sciences (CSC).

The $755 million-asset New Mexico Banquest announced Friday it would be acquired by Strategic Growth Bancorp, an El Paso company founded by father-and-son team Bill and Pablo Sanders.

Citigroup has fallen on hard times in recent years, but it has still managed to train the chief executives of the country's biggest banks and card networks.

The expansion by small credit card issuers comes as some of the biggest lenders continue to reengineer their businesses after being sideswiped during the recession, and amid weakness in consumer demand.

Domenick Cama, the COO of Investors, helped honor Christopher Martin, the chairman and CEO of Provident Financial Services, at a human relations award dinner in New Jersey this week.

Plenty of bankers want to buy another bank, but few plan to sell, according to a new survey. And there are other obstacles.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. doled out 13 consent orders to banks in October. The latest batch, disclosed by the FDIC on Thursday, included banks in across the country, including areas hardest hit by the downturn such as California, Florida, Georgia and Illinois.

NCAL Bancorp (NCAL) in Los Angeles is selling one of its five branches to a neighboring bank.

Lake Shore Bancorp (LSBK) in Dunkirk, N.Y., has purchased a former First Niagara Bank branch in Snyder, N.Y.

Umpqua Bank continues to expand its real estate business in the Pacific Northwest with the addition of a new homebuilder finance group.

Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) has extended the contract of Chief Executive Stephen Steinour by three years, through the end of 2016, the Columbus, Ohio, company said Thursday.

Wintrust Financial would sell the $161 million in deposits and three branches it bought from the failed Second Federal Savings and Loan to a credit union. Regulators will OK such deals under the right conditions, experts say.

Volatility among investment banks presents some great hiring opportunities for their rivals, says Daryle DiLascia, who recently joined Sterne, Agee & Leach from KBW to work on bank M&A.

The president and chief executive of Talbot Bank of Easton, Md., will step down at yearend and an insider will take over.

Bigger banks are farming out broker-dealer services, as regulatory compliance costs rise.