Beneficial Mutual Bancorp gained a 25% stake in Liberty Bell Bank after its former chairman Michael Kwasnik defaulted on a loan. Kwasnik had used the stake in recent years to stymie Liberty Bell while trying to take over the bank.

Unsuccessful in its bid to raise capital and recently ordered by regulators to bolster its loan-loss allowance, Fidelity Bank in Dearborn, Mich., is now critically undercapitalized and has told investors that is in danger of failing.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. (BBX) of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said Thursday that it has canceled plans for a potential capital raise after reaching a new deal to sell its thrift to BB&T Corp. (BBT)

BancTrust Financial Group Inc. (BTFG) in Mobile, Ala., has put itself up for sale after its bid to raise capital from two private-equity groups fell through.

Commerce in Worcester, Mass., has agreed to buy the parent of Mercantile Bank & Trust Co. in Boston for $26.5 million in cash.

Discover Financial Services is partnering with the operator of Puerto Rico's ATM and debit network, as part of its ongoing efforts to increase acceptance abroad by teaming up with local networks.

PSB Bancorp in Wisconsin is requiring Marathon State Bank to pay out a special dividend before the deal closes. While unusual now, the move harkens back to a pre-crisis tactic that existed when capital wasn't a concern.

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."