The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has reached a settlement with former executives at the failed LandMark Bank of Florida.

The third quarter had fewer deals compared to the second quarter, but three fundamental attributes of normalized M&A appeared: bigger players, shorter regulatory approvals times and interest from more buyers.

A Citigroup subsidiary has agreed to refund nearly $16 million to 31,234 customers who were said to have been charged higher investment advisory fees than promised.

First Commonwealth Financial in Indiana, Pa., has acquired Thompson/McLay Insurance Associates.

Complete Financial Solutions in Spokane, Wash., has agreed to buy Northern Star Financial in Mankato, Minn.

Kyle Waters and Andy Bower announced the creation of Loan Evaluation Services this week. The firm will provide independent loan portfolio reviews for community and regional banks that are planning to make acquisitions or have a need for third-party loan portfolio reviews.

The Federal Reserve Board has published an 11-page guide for banks looking to acquire large rivals.

Veritex Holdings in Dallas could sell up to $40.4 million of its common stock as part of its initial public offering.

NewBridge Bancorp in Greensboro, N.C., has agreed to buy Premier Commercial Bank in Greensboro.

UBS AG is tightening its rules on how employees can trade securities for personal accounts, telling staffers it wants to prevent potential abuses.

Heritage Commerce in San Jose, Calif., has agreed to buy the parent company of factoring firm Bay View Funding in Santa Clara, Calif.

Prosperity thought it had its bases covered, adding a clause in an employment agreement with lenders at an acquired bank in Oklahoma establishing Texas law as the jurisdiction for the contract. A judge disagreed in a decision that should get the attention of banks eyeing out-of-state deals.

Heritage Financial Group in Albany, Ga., has agreed to buy a branch in a northeast Atlanta suburb from PrivateBancorp.

OneMain Financial, Citigroup's consumer-lending arm, filed for a $50 million initial public offering in the U.S.

MBIA, the municipal bond insurance giant, suffered a major customer data breach that exposed customer data of an asset-management subsidiary that Bank of New York Mellon has agreed to buy.

The banking associations in Virginia and West Virginia have, for now, called off discussion about creating a single trade group.

Regulators consider bankers' timing needs when reviewing deals, but it certainly isn't their top concern, advisers say. H&R Block and BofI are learning that the hard way after being told that their bank deal will not be approved this year.

Bank of New York Mellon has agreed to buy the fixed-income firm Cutwater Asset Management from MBIA.

Capital One has acquired Adaptive Path, a well-respected web design firm, underscoring the bank's tech ambitions and the increasing importance of digital user experience in financial services.

Madison Bank of Maryland in Forest Hill plans to convert from a mutual thrift to a stock-owned institution. The thrift plans to raise about $24 million as part of its conversion, using the proceeds to fund lending and increase capital levels, according to a regulatory filing.