Central Bancshares in Muscatine, Iowa, has agreed to buy Buffalo Prairie State Bank in Buffalo Prairie, Ill.

Bay Commercial Bank in Walnut Creek, Calif., has stepped in to outbid a rival to buy Valley Community Bank in Pleasanton, Calif.

Ambitious Renasant Corp. in Mississippi is still billions of dollars away from a key regulatory threshold of $10 billion in assets, but it's getting ready now for the demands that come with growing that large. Two of its top executives explain why.

A large activist investor has given an early vote of confidence to Malvern Bancorp's new chief executive, while backing off of demands that the Paoli, Pa., company sell itself.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Frontier Bank FSB in Palm Desert, Calif.

Banks on opposite coasts — Sterling Bancorp in New York and Banner in Washington — are joining the list of institutions teetering on the $10 billion-asset threshold where a slew of new regulation kicks in. The banks' CEOs said they were finally able to peg the expected costs of reaching that size.

Hanmi Financial in Los Angeles reported higher quarterly earnings as organic loan growth and an acquisition offset significant margin pressure.

Fidelity Southern in Atlanta has agreed to buy deposits and loans from Florida Capital Bank.

MasterCard has agreed to buy the merchant payments unit of Transaction Network Services in Reston, Va.,a deal that would expand the e-commerce services offered by DataCash, MasterCard's payment processing subsidiary.

It has been three months since Bankwell Financial's CEO left abruptly. Some observers say it might make sense for Bankwell — and others in a similar spot — to consider selling while no change-of-control payout is involved.

Beneficial Bancorp in Philadelphia could raise as much as $633 million through its second-step conversion.

Glacier Bancorp in Kalispell, Mont., has agreed to buy Montana Community Banks Inc. in Ronan, Mont.

Late Wednesday, Banner Corp. in Walla Walla, Wash., announced it would acquire AmericanWest Bank in a $702 million stock-and-cash deal.

Clashes between directors and management are becoming routine at Cardinal Bankshares in Virginia, which recently forced out its CEO for the second time in two years.

Sterling Bancorp in Montebello, N.Y., has agreed to buy Hudson Valley Holding in Yonkers, N.Y.

Thomas H. Lee Partners and Warburg Pincus are selling the rest of their stock in Umpqua Holdings in Portland, Ore.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Pittsfield, Mass., has agreed to buy Hampden Bancorp in Springfield, Mass.

Community bank investor Kenneth Lehman is seeking regulatory approval to buy nearly half the shares in Village Bank & Trust Financial in Midlothian, Va.

Columbia Banking System in Tacoma, Wash., and First Business Financial Services in Madison, Wis., were among a sizable group of banking companies that completed acquisitions in recent days.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended Nov. 1.