The $19.3 billion-asset company plans to merge its Hancock Bank and Whitney Bank subsidiaries in the first quarter of 2014, pending regulatory approval, it said Thursday.

The $649 million-asset company said late Thursday that it had retained Sterne, Agee & Leach, making the announcement after it prevailed in a bitter contest with an activist investor.

Recently there have been many acquisitions and other i-banking transactions involving financial technology companies that target low-to-moderate income consumers, according to a new study.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Jeremy Stein warned Thursday that the current scope of regulatory tools will be insufficient to ward off the risks associated with asset fire sales.

The $1.7 billion-asset company said Thursday that it closed two branches last month, and that another four branches will close by next March.

Payment services provider EVO Payments International has agreed to acquire a majority interest in PKO Bank Polski's merchant-acquiring business in Poland.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (SMBC) in Poplar Bluff has agreed to buy Citizens State Bankshares of Bald Knob in Arkansas.

Fannie Mae earned $8.7 billion in the third quarter ended September 30, its seventh straight profitable quarter.

Radius Global Solutions LLC announced Wednesday that industry veteran Steve Leckerman has joined the firm as a partner and managing director.

The executive carousel keeps turning among Korean-American banks. BBCN Bancorp in Los Angeles has hired Daniel Kim as its chief planning officer. Kim is CFO and acting president at Saehan Bancorp, which is in the process of selling itself.

Some banks have been successful in serving a client base that ranges from mom-and-pop operations to multinational conglomerates, but the most profitable and efficient ones tend to have more targeted strategies, according to a new report from McKinsey & Co.

ACI Worldwide (ACIW) has completed its purchase of Official Payments Holdings (OPAY), a seller of electronic bill payment technology.

Capital Funding Group in Baltimore is selling its CFG bank unit after four years of ownership to concentrate on the less-regulated field of health-care financing. It joins a wave of firms that are streamlining themselves in the face of Basel III and other regulations.

VantageSouth Bancshares (VSB) in Raleigh, N.C., and Yadkin Financial (YDKN) in Elkin, N.C., are reportedly discussing a merger.

Union First Market Bancshares (UBSH) in Richmond, Va., has expanded its chief executive's role.

Experian has announced plans to buy U.S. healthcare data firm Passport Health Communications for $850 million, continuing a push to expand and invest in new products.

To prove the value of the merger of Provident New York Bancorp and Sterling Bancorp, executives have to increase revenues at a much faster pace than expenses over the long haul, CEO Jack Kopnisky says.

Independence Bank in Newport Beach, Calif., has agreed to buy Premier Service Bank (PSBK) in Riverside.

Home Bancorp (HBCP) in Lafayette, La., has agreed to pay $34.5 million in cash for Britton & Koontz Capital (BKBK) in Natchez, Miss.

Activist investors continue to stir up community banking and M&A. ISS advised Hampden Bancorp shareholders to support an investor group that wants to push the thrift to sell itself, but Egan-Jones says the new CEO deserves more time.