Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) plans to open 50 new branches in New York City alone within four years, as the Canadian bank bets heavily on the U.S. to grow future earnings amid tight competition in its home market, its top executive said Thursday.

Barclays PLC has climbed to the top of the asset-backed securities market, thanks to an aggressive rebuilding effort and a surge in investor interest in bonds secured by automobile loans and unusual assets such as revenue from pizza franchises.

Gerard Cassidy, of RBC Capital Markets, on why PNC's acquisition of National City is hard to beat in the annals of bank M&A.

Participants in a recent American Banker roundtable say whether they would they pick a a community bank, a regional bank or a megabank if given a choice — and explain why.

Green Bancorp in Houston is bulking up in the Dallas area with a deal to buy Opportunity Bancshares in Richardson, Texas.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Webster FCU, fresh off two Boston-area mergers, announced this morning a deal for Filene FCU, one of the oldest credit unions in Boston that served employees of the famous retail chain once run by credit union pioneer Edward Filene.

Tompkins Financial in Ithaca, N.Y., is planning to raise $30 million in a secondary stock offering and may use the proceeds to redeem securities issued to VIST Financial through the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

James J. Dunne III of investment bank Sandler O'Neill recovers briefcase containing $5,000 that he left in a taxi, invites cabdriver to his home for being "honest guy."

AmericanWest Bank in Spokane, Wash., is deepening its presence in California with plans to acquire Security Business Bank of San Diego.

CenterState Banks (CSFL) in Davenport, Fla.., is looking to slim down after spending much of the last three years bulking up through acquisitions.

HSBC's residential lending and servicing business continues to be under what the bank calls a "strategic review," leaving its mortgage workers in limbo.

Capital Bank Financial, a Miami company formed two years ago to buy distressed banks in the Southeast, has struck a deal to acquire Southern Community Financial (SCMF) in Winston-Salem, N.C., for $48.4 million.

John Mack, the former chief executive and chairman of Morgan Stanley, is joining private-equity giant KKR.

A Georgia House committee this week tweaked the "Small Business Borrower Protection Act," a bill containing restrictions for debt buyers that was passed in February by the Georgia Senate.

A breakdown of M&A announcements for the last week

BankAtlantic Bancorp (BBX) said in a regulatory filing that it will change its name to BBX Capital as part of its deal to sell its thrift to BB&T (BBT) in Winston-Salem, N.C.

At least three serial consolidators are positioning themselves for more deals should the right opportunity arise. SCBT and Iberiabank filed shelf registrations this month, while Wintrust raised $127 million.

BancTrust Financial Group in Mobile has put itself on the block, and as many as a half dozen banks could pursue it. The bidding process could foretell a lot about the appetite for small, complex deals everywhere.

WASHINGTON — Banking regulators said Monday they are looking for feedback on proposed changes to guidance issued in 2001 on leveraged finance.

First Banks of Clayton, Mo., is exiting Florida roughly four years after it entered the state with the acquisition of the troubled Coast Financial Holdings.