Hamilton Bank in Baltimore has received regulatory approval to take the second step to a stock-owned company from a mutual holding company.

First California Financial Group faces investor pressure to sell and an unsolicited bid from PacWest Bancorp. Yet it danced around its vulnerable M&A status in a proxy filing on its deal to buy Premier Service Bank.

Mutual holding companies appear to be fleeing the format and converting to stock companies, but Northeast Community CEO Kenneth Martinek remains a staunch supporter of the model. That may be partly because he's being sued by an activist investor who is pushing him to convert Northeast to a stock company from an MHC.

The CEO of First PacTrust will now share his title with an investor and director, who the bank hired to oversee nonbank deals.

BB&T (BBT) will lay off as many as 365 employees in connection with its acquisition of BankAtlantic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., according to a filing with the state government.

Louisiana officials heard Wednesday from several collection agencies as it reviews a plan to pursue $1.4 billion in past-due accounts.

Malvern Federal Bancorp (MLVF) in Paoli, Pa., will raise up to roughly $36.4 million by converting to a 100% stock-owned company from a mutual holding company.

Investor and director Steven Sugarman will now share CEO duties with Gregory Mitchell at First PacTrust of Irvine, Calif. The company announced a bank deal Wednesday, and Sugarman is expected to take lead on nonbank deals.

First PacTrust Bancorp (BANC) has landed another deal and a co-chief executive.

A Newport Beach, Calif., firm that buys problem loans from banks has struck its second deal in less than a week.

Dealmakers have been pushing bankruptcy recapitalizations for a few years. The time may now be ripe with credit quality improving while debt loads linger.

Merger will allow the trading software vendor to broaden its range of business intelligence offerings.

Yes, megabanks provide useful, all-in-one services. But their biggest customers challenge the argument that they need financial behemoths to operate globally.

Yes, megabanks provide useful, all-in-one services. But their biggest customers challenge the argument that financial behemoths should be held together for their sake.

Big businesses' mixed feelings about their large bank partners are especially obvious when the conversation turns to proposed reforms of money-market funds, which corporate treasurers say could increase the power of "too big to fail" banks.

Ellington Financial in Old Greenwich, Conn., has raised roughly $76.7 million through a public offering and will use the funds to acquire securities and loans.

Improved market conditions likely sparked Target Corp.'s announcement last week that it is in talks with "several well-qualified partners" interested in buying its credit card portfolio.

Kevin Kabat of Fifth Third and Stephen Steinour of Huntington Bancshares have a lot to win — or lose — if they bid for Citizens Republic of Flint, Mich.

Unprecedented regulatory demands and competition require banks to continue innovating and diversifying, says Aubrey Patterson, the Tupelo, Miss.-based company's longtime CEO, in a wide-ranging interview.

A breakdown of M&A announcements for the week ended August 18.