A failed bank deal in Michigan last week could be a financial and symbolic boon for Huntington Bancshares.

High asking prices and stubborn CEOs will keep M&A tepid in the short run, but eventually it will pick up — and two or three regionals in the Midwest and South could disappear, panelists on an American Banker Roundtable said.

Heading into 2011, there were multiple signs that it would be an active year for bank mergers and acquisitions. But as we know, industry M&A fell well short of expectations.

Shares of Yadkin Valley Financial (YAVY) jumped nearly 10% Friday after an analyst identified the company as a possible "takeover target."

Participants in a recent American Banker roundtable debate to what extent tougher supervision for banks above $50 billion of assets will deter deals among banks below the threshold.

New York Community would be paid $24 million to assume $2.3 billion of deposits from Aurora Bank, a former Lehman unit. The liquidity could be used to retire bonds coming due, Joseph Ficalora says.

First Mariner Bancorp has warned investors that it is in danger of failing.

Regional banks are going to have to innovate and cut costs because revenue will remain tight and competition will get fiercer, Matthew Friend of Accenture Payment Services says.

BancTrust Financial Group (BTFG), a troubled Mobile, Ala., company that is looking for a buyer, has bought itself time to find one after reaching a deal to delay interest payments on a $20 million loan outstanding to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) may be based in Canada, but its U.S. operations have become increasingly important to the future of the company — and of its employees.

Toronto-Dominion plans in the coming years to find Ed Clark's successor from within. Colleen Johnston, its chief financial officer, seems to have a strong shot but downplayed speculation in an interview.

New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYB) has agreed to take on $2.3 billion of deposits from Aurora Bank FSB, a former mortgage arm of Lehman Brothers that has been winding down.

Three weeks after completing an acquisition for one small Pennsylvania bank, S&T Bancorp in Indiana, Pa., has struck a deal for another.

Bank of America has sold collection agencies rights to sue over credit card debts that it has privately noted were potentially inaccurate or already repaid.

More than 20 banks in the state are still in the Treasury Department's program with limited options to get out. Selling could be the best solution, industry observers say.

Investment banker Jeff Weiss is resigning as Barclays Capital's (BCS) head of global financial institutions to pursue "entrepreneurial opportunities," according to an internal company memo.

Core Innovation Capital, an arm of a nonprofit aimed at helping the unbanked, will devote the $45 million it raised to investments in startup financial services companies. It already has put money into SavvyMoney and Plastyc.

The profile of a typical bank failure has taken on a new shape in 2012, with the combustion of construction loan portfolios giving way business loan blowups.

Regional banks will have a hard time growing revenue and meeting the demands of Dodd-Frank, but they have some distinct advantages over other banks, too, panelists on a recent American Banker roundtable said.

Bankers should take these red flags into account when assessing corporate credit and vendor risk. No. 1 on the list: when a company's chairman and CEO are the same individual.