Kamal Mustafa, a former global head of M&A at Citibank who now helps to stress-test banks, fears another earnings crunch is coming and that bank valuations will sink lower than they are now.

Hovde Financial has hired two investment bankers, in Beverly Hills, Calif., and Chicago, as the community bank advisor braces for more deals.

Bankers who want to cash out ahead of a potential hike in the capital gains tax next year need to act fast, M&A experts say.

Hampton Roads Bankshares's (HMPR) second-quarter loss narrowed from a year earlier as improveed credit quality aided the Norfolk, Va., company.

The Illinois company spent three years trying to keep its Kansas and Florida banks from failing. The company, which has other banks, is not off the hook yet because the FDIC could charge it for the cost of the failures.

Banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc., sued for $2 billion by Thornburg Mortgage Inc. for allegedly helping it fail, lost a bid to move the case from bankruptcy court to district court as a Maryland judge said almost all the issues could be decided in bankruptcy court.

The next six months are critical to the bank if it is to exit Tarp and stay independent, says Kessel Stelling, the Columbus, Ga., company’s chairman and CEO.

Synovus Financial (SNV) continued its comeback, reporting its fourth profitable quarter in a row.

RBS Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., has signed a referral agreement with brokerage Oppenheimer & Co., in a bid to boost its commercial lending to middle-market businesses.

A breakdown of M&A announcements for the week ended July 21.

The Milstein family's recent sale of Emigrant Bank's New York branches shows how banks can innovate when they don't answer to a wide shareholder base.

The Renton, Wash., company has spent more than $600,000 to fight an big outside investor, highlighting the cost of duking it out with irate shareholders.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Pentagon FCU announced this morning its Prudential PenFed Realty CUSO has acquired Prudential Professional Realty in Clarksville, Tenn., an independent franchise outside the Fort Campbell, Kentucky, military base, which has been rebranded as Prudential PenFed Realty.

Howard Bancorp in Ellicott City, Md., has raised $10.2 million through a public offering and private placement of common stock.

Bank sellers and buyers are seeing a steady pickup in business, including separate deals last week by Emigrant and WesBanco.

Debt buyer Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. (PRA) on Monday named Owen James as CEO of Mackenzie Hall Holdings, succeeding Paul Mackenzie.

The California company received the FDIC's blessing to sell 11 loans covered by loss-sharing arrangements. Industry observers believe more sales could take place now that this deal has been cleared to take place.

The card-fee kerfuffle, CFPB vs. Cap One, a summer of scandals and earnings. As discussed by American Banker editors.

The deal with Apple Bank provides Emigrant with much-needed capital, though the private bank's lofty price expectations may have warded off other potential bidders, sources says.

AmericanWest in Spokane, Wash., announced Thursday it plans to acquire the $221 million-asset Inland Community Bank for $23.7 million, or 95% of its book value. It is AmericanWest's third acquisition in California in a year.