How two midsize banks and a marketplace lender are relying on chief culture officers to maintain a lively work environment and preserve their values amid M&A and organic growth.

Cutting-edge jobs — think chief innovation, strategy and data officers — are on the rise at banks and other lenders, and they are drawing free-thinking, tech-savvy candidates from inside and outside of financial services. American Banker asked several of them to recommend a book or other piece of writing that helped them tackle jobs that often were created from scratch.

U.S. Century Bank in Miami has been freed from a regulatory consent order that had restricted its activities for nearly five years.

The $189 million-asset credit union has asked approval from state and federal regulators to convert to a state-chartered mutual savings bank.

Lance Osborne is vying for two board seats at First Niles Financial in Ohio, but he isn’t pushing the thrift to sell itself. Rather, he wants management to pull money out of securities to make more loans.

A decline in expenses and a modest rise in lending income boosted first-quarter profit at Popular in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

KeyCorp plans to add three First Niagara Financial Group officials to its board this year after the two banks merge.

The Federal Reserve is giving the public more time to comment on Huntington Bancshares' agreement to buy FirstMerit in Akron, Ohio.

Simmons First National in Pine Bluff, Ark., plans to close 10 banks across four states by the end of the second quarter: three branches in Arkansas, four in the Missouri and Kansas region and three in Tennessee.

U.S. Bancorp said Friday that it has agreed to sell its majority stake in a Brazilian technology division of its Elavon payments processing subsidiary.

Community banks are grappling with a quickly changing operating environment, but they might have some practical advantages over large banks in building partnerships with fintech firms, and those relationships could give them the competitive edge they seek.

The biggest investor in Middleburg Financial plans to withhold support for the company's director nominees.

Wells Fargo plans to donate more than $665 million in philanthropic giving to meet new corporate social responsibility goals it has set.

Delaware Bancshares in New York thought it was set to grow and diversify after buying six Bank of America branches. Instead, the deal led to the company selling itself.

F.N.B.'s acquisition of Metro Bancorp bulked up the Pittsburgh company's loan book, but M&A costs ate into its first-quarter profit.

Western Alliance Bancorp. in Phoenix reported higher first-quarter profit as its remains a busy dealmaker.

Some are looking at buying banks or counting on recently announced acquisitions to diversify revenue streams. Others are investing in fee-based businesses and new technologies and all, of course, are trying to keep a lid on expenses.

People's United Financial in Bridgeport, Conn., reported higher first-quarter profits as it increased lending for both commercial and residential real estate.

High Point Bank considered bulking up to the size of other community banks in its market but quickly realized that the strategy would involve significant expense, risk and capital. So the company ended up selling to BNC Bancorp.

There are countless considerations banks face when joining another institution, but blending two distinct organizational philosophies into a healthy culture must be a top priority.