The decision will turn on whether regulators think the merged company would lessen competition or pose a significant threat to the broader economy if it runs into financial distress.

The combination of two Pacific Northwest banks was supposed to create a regional powerhouse, but rising deposit costs have stung. CEO Clint Stein says he's "laser-focused" on making Columbia a top performer again.

In talks with OCC officials, "it became obvious that we would not gain near-term approval given their recent experience with multifamily and CRE positions," FirstSun CEO Neal Arnold says. The companies announced other revisions to their deal, too.

House Republicans held a subcommittee hearing on reforming bank merger M&A, laying the groundwork to counter Biden administration efforts to make it more difficult for mergers to be approved.

Texas Dow Employees Credit Union has agreed to acquire Sabine State Bank and Trust in Louisiana to raise its profile in the oil-and-gas industry. The deal coincides with record levels of U.S. drilling this year.

Consolidation has slowed since the pandemic, but UMB's agreement to buy Heartland Financial — the largest deal in three years — is one of several merger announcements in the past two weeks. Talks among other potential buyers and sellers are said to be picking up.

The failure of Republic First isn't a systemic threat or even a surprise. But the conditions that led to its failure are not all that unique and may foreshadow a secular rise in bank consolidation — one that policymakers can either embrace or resist.

The Los Angeles-based company, which focuses on Korean Americans, said the acquisition of Territorial Bancorp will allow it to expand its customer base.

The first bank failure of 2024 will result in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Fulton nearly doubling deposits in Philadelphia, a market it has viewed as strategically important for several years.

The combination of the two regional banks is set to create a $64.5 billion-asset company with a 13-state footprint across parts of the Midwest, South and West.

The Philadelphia-based bank's parent company, Republic First Bancshares, had been roiled by a yearslong proxy battle involving activist investors groups and its former CEO.

The Jackson, Mississippi, company will use proceeds from the sale of its Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance unit to restructure its investment portfolio, moving $1.6 billion of low-yield securities off the balance sheet.

Brendon Falconer, finance chief of the Indiana company since 2019, faces felony child molestation charges. But CEO James Ryan says management is focused on the CapStar integration and organic growth.

Institutions and their investors are facing pressure from climate activists, cautiously awaiting interest rate cuts and adjusting to new Federal Reserve and FDIC policies.

As recently as a few months ago, many observers predicted a surge of bank mergers this year. But longtime obstacles to dealmaking are still there and have been joined by new ones.

New details have emerged about the negotiations that culminated in Capital One's blockbuster $35 billion agreement to acquire Discover. At one point last December, the two parties broke off discussions, according to a securities filing.

Rising deposit costs have plagued banks in general, and the Tennessee bank had to pay up to bolster liquidity after its failed merger with TD. But First Horizon retained customers in the first quarter while not paying them the special rates they got last year.

Societe Generale has been seeking more than $1.1 billion for the business, according to the people, sources told Bloomberg News. 

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., detailed how New York Community Bancorp grew to exceed the $100 billion threshold that triggers tougher regulatory requirements and set the bank on a path to market turmoil via a series of deals that were approved, in part, by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Should the all-stock transaction close as planned later this year, Wintrust Financial in the Chicago area would gain about $2.7 billion of assets.