Bank of Southern California in San Diego has agreed to sell $7 million of its common stock to the asset management firm Castle Creek Capital.

The $13 billion-asset company, formed by the merger of BBCN Bancorp and Wilshire Bancorp, said in a press release Monday that it will close 12 branches in southern California, New York and New Jersey as part of a broader cost-cutting effort.

First Merchants Corp. in Muncie, Ind., has agreed to buy a minority stake in Independent Alliance Banks in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Technology? Bankers can keep up. New regulations? We've got people to handle that. But how to account for the flight of customers, prospective employees and economic opportunities from rural areas is perhaps the biggest challenge facing community lenders and policymakers, warns a longtime Oklahoma banker.

Park National in Newark, Ohio, has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that its loan-loss accounting underplayed credit problems at a troubled acquisition.

Triumph Bancorp in Dallas plans to issue $50 million in subordinated debt and said proceeds from the offering may be used for acquisitions.

The $2.2 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it redeemed $12.2 million, the remaining half of its SBLF shares, on Sept. 22 at a liquidation value of $1,000 each for $12.4 million.

Bank of America plans to eliminate about a dozen senior positions at its corporate and investment-banking operations in Asia, the second time the U.S. firm is cutting jobs in the region this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Arkansas regulators have closed the $66.3 million-asset Allied Bank in Mulberry, the fifth institution to fail this year.

First Bancorp in Southern Pines, N.C., has terminated loss-share agreements tied to a pair of failed-bank acquisitions.

Only a dozen banks still owe the government Troubled Asset Relief Program money, and an unspecified number of others including Reliance Bancshares in St. Louis owe investors who bought their Tarp balances. But Reliance has made problem loans vanish and has a credit line in hand to help retire its $62 million Tarp-related debt.

Randolph Bancorp raised $57 million in a mutual-to-stock conversion and is using the proceeds to fund acquisitions — it closed its first-ever deal in July — and dramatically improve its digital capabilities.

Bankers can bolster investor confidence by showing they are taking a disciplined approach to M&A. That involves thorough due diligence, strong rationales for deals and the ability to step away from the table.

The $8.3 billion-asset CVB said Thursday that it would pay $57.5 million in cash and stock for the $416 million-asset parent of Valley Business Bank.

Home BancShares co-founder and Chairman John Allison is shrinking his ownership stake in the Conway, Ark., company for estate-planning purposes.

Farmers Capital Bank in Frankfort, Ky., has announced a plan to restructure its balance sheet.

A compliance-at-all-costs mentality, which is the overarching attitude in many banks, results in overspending and overallocating valuable resources to meet both real and perceived compliance standards.

CapStar Financial Holdings in Nashville, Tenn., expects to raise net proceeds of $16.6 million in an initial public offering that it plans to spend on growth and other initiatives — perhaps including M&A.

An independent chairman could uncover or minimize damage from fraud while also meting out punishment more impartially after the fact. The longtime corporate governance argument has new legs in light of the account scam at Wells Fargo, whose board is led by CEO John Stumpf.

Wellesley Bancorp in Massachusetts has appointed New England banking veteran Kathryn Hinderhofer to its board.