BBVA agreed on Thursday to buy disrupter Simple for $117 million in a bid to improve the Spanish bank's digital properties.

Guernsey Bancorp in Westerville, Ohio, has terminated an agreement to buy Ohio State Bank in Marion.

Umpqua Holdings and Sterling Financial are paying Banner $7 million to take the branches. Though negative bids are uncommon in healthy bank deals, it seems like a small price to get regulators to bless a $2 billion merger.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has agreed to pay $117 million for online banking startup Simple.

Regulation, succession planning and lending limits are huge issues, particularly for banks with $100 million or less in assets. As a result, more of those banks are taking a hard look at selling themselves.

Hamilton Bank (HBK) in Baltimore has poached three executives from CFG Community Bank in Lutherville, Md.

VantageSouth Bancshares (VSB) in Raleigh, N.C., has redeemed all outstanding shares issued to the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

PL Capital scored another victory this week when it put an end to a proxy challenge against Alliance Bancorp of Pennsylvania (ALLB) in Broomall.

Banner Corp. (BANR) in Walla Walla, Wash., has agreed to buy six branches in Oregon from Sterling Financial (STSA) in Spokane, Wash.

South Street Financial had just given up on raising capital and had hired Raymond James to evaluate possible suitors when a BNC representative visited the CEO's office to request merger talks.

The biggest banks are coming off a year when their stocks and profits soared. Yet below the surface, they face a number of vexing problems: more regulation, less lucrative trading, an inability to do big deals and lower multiples than many smaller rivals. American Banker staffers discuss whether such factors may some day encourage shareholders to agitate for breakups.

Steven Antonakes, the CFPB's deputy director, gave a speech which indicated the agency has shifted to a hard-line stance regarding compliance with a new mortgage servicing rule that went into effect last month. "Business as usual has ended in the mortgage servicing industry," he said.

Companies want to avoid borrowing from inflexible hedge funds and banks that conduct business with competitors.

Investment bank Houlihan Lokey has added a director with ample experience in mortgage banking deals to its financial institutions group.

First Defiance Financial (FDEF) in Defiance, Ohio, has agreed to buy First Community Bank in Columbus, Ohio.

The company's management team is confident it can build off a beachhead, making its case by referencing past forays into Baton Rouge, La., and Houston.

Mergers and acquisitions have gained steam in early 2014. Here is a rundown of the whole-bank deals, shedding of noncore businesses and swapping of securities so far this year.

First Financial Holdings (SCBT) in Columbia, S.C., is planning to change its name for the second time in as many years.

CVB Financial (CVBF) in Ontario, Calif., has agreed to buy America Bancshares in Newport Beach, Calif.

Equifax, an Atlanta credit reporting firm, announced revenues in 2013 were more than $2.3 billion, up 11 percent from 2012. Profits were up 29.3 percent last year, to $351.8 million.