JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp., the two biggest U.S. banks, are cutting senior mortgage traders and salesmen amid a decline in the asset-backed securities market, people with knowledge of the moves said.

A Michigan bank that recently endured three straight years of losing money and a Seattle thrift that was once on the verge of failure are among 22 banks and thrifts that the investment bank Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP predicts will be added to the Russell 3000 stock index this year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) became the latest Western bank to invest in a Chinese trust company this week, taking a 19.9% stake in midsized Bridge Trust Co. for an undisclosed amount.

Activist investor Joseph Stilwell wants the company to find a seller a month after one of his representatives quit the board.

Bank of America will sell its Irish consumer credit-card unit to Apollo Global, the latest business unit sale by a shrinking B of A.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) has agreed to buy a 19.9% minority stake in a Chinese trust company, said a person familiar with the situation.

Daryl Byrd is reluctant to discuss specific markets, though he says in an interview Tuesday that his company is open to deals in several states as it looks to grow more outside its home turf in Louisiana.

Bank of Montreal expects to save $300 million a year from the acquisition of Marshall & Ilsley, $50 million more than initially forecast, CEO William Downe says.

A Virginia investor who has co-founded and sold three community banks in the past decade may buy up to a 45% share in First Capital Bancorp Inc. in Glen Allen, Va.

Debtors and their lenders will square off before the Supreme Court next month over a bidding tactic that secured lenders use to preserve collateral in bankruptcy cases.

Bank of Montreal (BMO)'s takeover of Wisconsin lender Marshall & Ilsley is a "game changer" that allows Canada's fourth-largest lender to expand in the midwest with further takeovers, according to Chief Executive Officer William Downe.

Citigroup Inc. has reached a long-term agreement to provide credit services for the retailer coalition BrandSource.

Dan Magder, a director of acquisitions for Lone Star Funds, has quit the investment firm to focus on what he calls an "REO-to-rental investment opportunity."

The New York Investment firm Prospect Capital Corp. has agreed to acquire a majority stake in specialty-finance company, First Tower Corp., for roughly $266 million.

A breakdown of M&A announcements for the last week

Private equity investors are requiring rigorous stress testing of banks' loan portfolios before they even consider making an investment.

Pacific Crest FCU announced on Monday that it is acquiring two northern California branches from ailing PremierWest Bancorp.

Bank of America Corp. dismissed Steven Milunovich and two other energy analysts as the lender seeks to trim expenses in its investment bank, said two people with knowledge of the moves.

Less than 250 credit unions have the size, capital, and charter needed to successfully buy a community bank.

Union Bank's deal to buy Pacific Capital is making the U.S. Treasury's decision to a quick write-down on its investment in the target on look like a shrewd choice.