Terry Robinson, a longtime California banker, died on Jan. 11, three days before his Manhattan Bancorp announced a proposed merger with Plaza Bancorp. Manhattan, which is operating under an OCC order, did not publicly disclose Robinson's death, or his Dec. 31 retirement, even though he played an integral role negotiating the merger.

Kentucky First Federal Bancorp is merging its two banks.

Revising the current control rules could give banks access to more capital from private equity, hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has received regulatory approval to form a broker-dealer subsidiary that will expand its merchant banking capabilities.

BB&T in Winston-Salem, N.C., has received regulatory approval to buy Citigroup's remaining branches in Texas.

Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., has agreed to sell a total of 17 branches in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio to First Mid-Illinois Bancshares and MainSource Financial Group.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has withdrawn its agreement to buy Mackinac Savings Bank in Boynton Beach, Fla., and may instead try to open a credit union.

The Justice Department is seeking to advance a more-than-five-year probe into whether Moody's Investors Service inflated ratings during the U.S. housing boom, according to three people familiar with matter.

Investors Bancorp in Short Hills, N.J., reported higher quarterly income thanks to a combination of acquisitions and organic growth.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will require nonbank mortgage firms to meet minimum liquidity and net worth standards to curb risks to taxpayers from the rapidly expanding industry.

MB Financial in Chicago reported a sharp rise in quarterly earnings in its first full quarter following the acquisition of Taylor Capital.

National Bank Holdings in Greenwood Village, Colo., has finally returned to the acquisition game, by agreeing to buy Pine River Bank in Bayfield, Colo.

Community & Southern Holdings in Atlanta has agreed to buy Community Business Bank in Cumming, Ga.

TCF Financial took $44 million in charges to rid itself of mortgages made before the housing collapse. A distressed-asset investor purchased more than $400 million in loans from the company, and another pool of bad mortgages may be marked for sale soon.

Royal Bank of Scotland will probably hold one or two more sales this year of shares it owns in Citizens Financial Group, the U.S. subsidiary it spun off in September.

New York Community Bancorp wants Washington to raise the asset size for systemically important financial institutions, but in the meanwhile its asset sales to stay under the threshold helped to boost profits and its CEO is pursuing possible M&A deals.

Astoria Financial in Lake Success, N.Y., reported higher quarterly profit that benefitted from a sizable reserve release.

Ameris Bancorp in Moultrie, Ga., has has agreed to buy Merchants and Southern Banks of Florida in Gainesville, along with a number of Bank of America branches.

City National Corp., Hollywood's "bank to the stars," could expand its entertainment business to London within five years under ownership by Royal Bank of Canada, Chief Executive Officer Russell Goldsmith said.

Alamogordo Financial Group in New Mexico has split the roles of president and chief executive.