Regional banks

Clarity on credit quality has bankers ready to strike deals after a lengthy pause. A steady rise in stock prices has also given potential buyers the financial wherewithal to pursue acquisitions.

The Ohio company has opened just 32 of 120 new branches it plans in the region by 2022, but those offices are making a sizable contribution to growth.

The Connecticut company will have more than 200 branches and $64 billion of deposits after completing the acquisition.

Zions Bancorp. CEO Harris Simmons says the Secured Overnight Financing Rate is more suited for derivative traders than regional banks as a replacement for Libor. His bank this week became the largest to say it would use the alternative developed by the American Financial Exchange.

BancorpSouth would have $44 billion of assets after it buys Houston-based Cadence. The company will be rebranded, while the bank will retain the Cadence name.

Longstanding familiarity with each other and years of informal talks helped the companies negotiate their $7.6 billion merger in just two months.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Chief Executive Bharat Masrani said he’s still interested in a major acquisition to add to the firm’s U.S. retail operations, and that he’s unfazed by the recent valuation surge for the regional lenders that would be his most likely targets.

Caroline Taylor, who recently ran Small Business Administration lending at Capital One, aims to expand her team at Regions, help steer borrowers into economic recovery and reach out to women and minority small-business owners who have been underserved.

UMB Financial’s success in aviation financing has boosted fee income, and the Missouri company has opened an office in Dublin — a hub for airplane sales and leases that could get busier as the airline industry restructures.

Big banks led the push to offer multibillion-dollar bonds that fund affordable housing, education and nonprofits that serve needy communities. But Truist's recent $1.25 billion bond is a sign that regionals want to attract progressive institutional investors — and burnish their images.