Principal Financial agreed to sell $200 million of deposits from its savings and loan unit and said the business plans to divest commercial loans as part of an effort to limit the insurer's role in banking amid greater U.S. supervision.

After less than a year on the job, BNC Financial CEO Peyton Patterson is looking at new markets, products and a plan to bring in up to $50 million in capital.

The $3.5 billion asset company will invest in Religare Enterprises, an Indian firm that is applying for a banking license in India, Customers said Thursday. It will spread the investment out over the next 18 months.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board will meet Tuesday to vote on the Basel III capital and liquidity rules to be applied to U.S. banks, the central bank said Thursday.

Jack Choi, the chief credit officer at Wilshire Bancorp (WIBC) in Los Angeles, will step down on July 1 to become president and chief executive of an unnamed bank.

Institutions need to realize that, given the relative health of their asset portfolios and the current regulatory environment, valuations and deal prices will be below historical averages.

John W. Allison of Home BancShares finally got Liberty Bancshares to blink after 10 years of trying to buy it. Allison's persistence and the high multiples on Home's stock helped seal the deal.

BNC Financial Group in New Canaan, Conn., is planning to change its name to Bankwell Financial.

Alamogordo Financial Corp. (ALMG) in New Mexico has agreed to buy Bank 1440 (BFFO) in Phoenix.

Signature Bank (SBNY) in New York City has hired a private-client team from Citigroup (NYSE: C) and added two more bankers to head its existing groups.

StoneCastle Financial is planning an initial public offering to raise up to $150 million for bank investments.

Avidbank Holdings (AVBH) in Palo Alto, Calif., has raised $16 million selling roughly 1.6 million shares of common stock in a private offering.

The $4.2 billion-asset, Conway, Ark., company will pay $280 million in cash and stock for the $2.9 billion-asset Liberty.

Trade finance involving U.S. and Chinese companies is growing, and MetroCorp could be free to make more loans now that it is free of a regulatory order.

Premara Bank in Charlotte, N.C., has opened a branch in downtown Washington.

Volatility in other credit markets is starting to spill over into leveraged loans, as more than a dozen companies have pulled refinancings and other deals in the primary loan market this month.

In the wake of his Deloitte crackdown last week, New York financial regulator Benjamin Lawsky called for more reforms, and punishments, of the bank consulting industry.

Like a lot of buyers, Southern Missouri Bancorp would like to acquire bigger banks, but in agreeing to buy Bank of Thayer and its parent for $6.5 million, its execs say they are being realistic and going for what is available.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended June 22.

Shareholders of San Diego Trust Bank have approved the bank's sale to Pacific Premier (PPBI) in Irvine, Calif.