M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y., reported a higher quarterly profit as lower expenses offset tighter margins.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed First National Bank of Crestview in Florida on Friday, marking this year's first bank failure.

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Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., has agreed to buy Ahmann & Martin, a benefits consulting firm in Edina, Minn.

Sunflower Financial in Salina, Kan., has canceled its planned purchase of First Western Financial in Denver. The $1.7 billion-asset Sunflower had agreed in September to buy the $688 million-asset First Financial.

Franklin Financial Network in Franklin, Tenn., has filed for a $50 million initial public offering.

Bank of the Ozarks in Little Rock, Ark., reported a higher profit in the fourth quarter behind record net interest income.

Doral Financial in San Juan, Puerto Rico, disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday that it sold about $181 million of loans to WOMF REV at a slight premium.

First Sound Bank in Seattle has agreed to buy Eastside Commercial Bank in Bellevue, Wash.

SVB Financial in Santa Clara, Calif., has agreed to sell a specialty finance business in India at a net loss.

Home BancShares in Conway, Ark., swallowed $1.7 million of merger-integration costs in the fourth quarter, capping a year of investment in its expansion.

Citigroup plans to shed 60 branches as part of its ongoing restructuring, a number of which are said to be in California. It shopped some of the California branches last year, and it may again try to sell some of them.

Plaza Bancorp in Irvine, Calif., has agreed to buy Manhattan Bancorp in El Segundo, Calif.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon had to defend the company against calls to break it up, doubts about its ability to command higher prices and greater efficiency, and investor disappointment with fourth-quarter results.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Sandler O'Neill & Partners commanded the market for bank M&A advisory in 2014, according to data published Wednesday by SNL Financial.

JPMorgan Chase Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said there's no reason to undertake "major surgery" on the company, which benefits from its size.

Small banks aren't disappearing-they're just getting bigger. Meanwhile, their large competitors are exiting business lines and selling off units. These changes suggest that regulators would be better off issuing rules based on lenders' level of complexity, relieving institutions that operate by a core banking model of unnecessary burdens.

It took more than year for ViewPoint Financial and LegacyTexas to complete a transformational merger near Dallas. The company, which took the seller's name, is now trying to meet its targets in the face of plummeting oil prices.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended Jan. 10.

Northwest Bancshares in Warren, Pa., has bought B.J. Petruso Agency in Meadville, Pa.