The $4.4 billion-asset bank holding company based in Dubuque, Iowa said Thursday it would buy Heritage Bank in Phoenix for $16 million in cash.

Many community banks could find themselves in the same dilemma as LNB in Ohio, which is weighing the pleas of activist shareholder Umberto Fedeli to repurchase its Tarp shares from private investors. It has to choose between paying higher dividends or a costly capital raise.

Viable restructuring alternatives to bank holding company debt do exist and will open the door to conventional M&A options or attract fresh equity.

Unable to find an acquisition or other expansion opportunity that it likes, Trinity Bank in Fort Worth, Texas, will pay a special onetime dividend to shareholders.

Noble Systems Corp. acquired a contact center technology provider, the company announced Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MLV & Co. Financial has struck a deal to buy a stake in an investment advisor in Connecticut and promises more acquisitions to come.

BankUnited (BKU) is gearing up for branch openings in New York despite being barred by a settlement with Capital One Financial from opening the branches until next year.

Jamie Dimon sounded off Wednesday on two big scandals dogging his bank this year, expressing regret and frustration over the "London Whale" trading losses and a new government lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase.

Even without added regulatory pressure, Capital One has a lot to juggle as it integrates ING Direct and a big HSBC credit card portfolio. Industry members weigh in on what it should watch for.

Capital One knows how to integrate big bank purchases. But in the era of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, it's facing new challenges as it swallows ING Direct and HSBC's credit cards.

Signature, a New York bank led by frugal CEO Joseph DePaolo, is laser-focused on commercial clients and niche lines in an age when others are trying to be all things to all people.

NBT Bancorp's agreement to buy Alliance Financial in New York is an M&A rarity — a sizable deal between healthy seller that could signal more such transactions to come.

Pinnacle Bank of Lincoln, Neb., would expand its presence in the Show Me State with its agreement to buy First State Bank of Joplin, Mo.

1st Constitution Bancorp (FCCY) in Cranbury, N.J., has raised roughly $5 million through a rights offering.

LCNB (LCNB) in Lebanon, Ohio, would expand into two new counties with its agreement to buy First Capital Bancshares in Chillicothe, Ohio, for roughly $19.6 million in stock and cash.

NBT Bancorp's agreement to buy Alliance Financial in upstate New York is an M&A rarity — a deal worth more than $200 million that involves a healthy seller. More deals like this are expected and would kick-start bank dealmaking.

American Bank & Trust of Wessington Springs, S.D., has agreed to buy Mansfield State Bank.

American Founders Bancorp in Lexington, Ky., announced Monday that it plans to close one of its Lexington branches by the end of October, leaving it with three branches in its hometown.

Fitch Ratings warned of a possible downgrade of Ocwen Financial after the Atlanta company agreed to buy Homeward Residential Holdings from WL Ross & Co.

Trustmark in Jackson, Miss., does not expect to get regulators to OK its takeover of BancTrust in Mobile, Ala., until late this year or early next year.