Parke Bancorp in New Jersey decided to sell its SBA lending business when it realized the group had national aspirations. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, a larger bank in Massachusetts, was pleased to buy the unit.

Grayson Bankshares in Independence, Va., and Cardinal Bankshares in Floyd, Va., have agreed to merge to form a new holding company.

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Sometimes it's for the best to end a complicated relationship. At least that's the view of some bankers who have negotiated early terminations of their FDIC loss-sharing agreements.

First Guaranty Bancshares in Hammond, La., has decided to again test the market for an IPO. The $1.4 billion-asset company in December postponed a stock offering that would have raised around $65 million, as concerns mounted about the impact the slide in oil prices would have on the bank.

CEOS of midsize banks traveled to Washington recently to seek relief from some of the more onerous regulations that they say are making it harder for them to compete with both big banks and largely unregulated marketplace lenders that are aggressively going after their customers.

Puget Sound Bank in Bellevue, Wash., is preparing to form a holding company.

Incommons Bank in Mexia, Texas, has agreed to buy two branches from Allegiance Bancshares in Houston.

Financial institutions are often thought of as major consumers of technology, but a pair of recent examples show that more tech is being developed in-house and, once proven feasible, monetizing it. Expect more spin-offs, observers predict.

KeyCorp’s biggest deal since Beth Mooney became CEO would make it the 13th largest U.S. commercial bank if approved, and a proposal from Virgin Money's Jayne-Anne Gadhia could prompt the U.K. to peg bank exec bonuses to gender diversity. Also: Barclays' Barbara Byrne, KKR's Suzanne Donohoe and JPM's Eileen Serra.

The CFPB is evaluating whether it should take legal action against the Minnesota company for how it handles overdraft protection. The move comes as TCF takes steps to become less dependent on services charges for fee revenue.

Beth Mooney at Key and Joseph Ficalora at New York Community Bancorp recently upset shareholders with big acquisitions. Industry observers believe investors should slowly warm up to deals as a strategic alternative to generous dividends and share buybacks.

Dave McKay, the president and CEO of Royal Bank of Canada, has spent much of his time as head of the second-largest Canadian bank plotting the acquisition of the coveted $36 billion-asset City National in Los Angeles. Now he has to execute on a strategy of cross-selling products to affluent customers of both banks while expanding geographically.

WSB Bancshares in Wellington, Texas, has agreed to buy XIT Bancshares in Littlefield, Texas.

CNB Bancshares in Sevierville, Tenn., plans to buy National Bank of Tennessee, after the Newport, Tenn., bank's holding company files for bankruptcy.

The chief executive of First Capital Bancorp in Glen Allen, Va., plans to resign, about a month after the company agreed to sell itself.

F&M Bancshares in Trezevant, Tenn., has agreed to buy Medina Banking in Medina, Tenn. The $308 million-asset F&M Bancshares said in a press release that it expects the transaction to close early next year.

The $3.9 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that Bernard Clineberg, 66, will step down as president and chief executive in January. Christopher Bergstrom, Cardinal’s chief credit officer and chief risk officer, will succeed Clineberg as acting president and CEO. Clineberg will remain the company’s chairman.

First National Corp. in Strasburg, Va., will redeem about $14.6 million of preferred stock that was originally issued through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Chippewa Valley Bank in Winter, Wis., has agreed to buy most of the assets of State Bank of Drummond in Drummond, Wis.