Regional banks

Wells Fargo aside, the industry overall should be pleased with the results of our annual survey of bank reputations. One key insight: Displaying strong ethics is an effective way to improve what people think of your bank.

Seeking to stay below $50 billion, the regional is selling its origination and servicing businesses.

The Canadian bank twice sweetened its bid for PrivateBancorp, raising the stakes. Now it must gain traction in the hypercompetitive Chicago market while hunting for more acquisitions.

Readers weigh in on chatbots, Amazon’s physical footprint expansion plans, alternative credit data and more.

One of the biggest challenges after a merger is deciding which people to keep and which to let go. Learning to identify certain habits and skills could simplify those decisions.

Pinnacle Financial Partners closed in on $20 billion in assets by buying BNC. It now has to integrate the North Carolina bank, while finding ways to boost profit and adapt to increased regulatory burden.

Readers chime in on the GSE conservatorships, bitcoin’s future, regulatory relief for regional banks, a recent Supreme Court ruling on debt collection, and more.

The initiative comes as the bank is carving out a niche in the market for midsize companies.

One of the greatest factors hindering a full recovery following the 2008 crisis is improperly calibrated regulation, particularly of regional banking institutions.

Here are 10 banks the investment banking firm KBW says are ripe M&A targets because they are in hot markets, face various growth challenges that make them vulnerable or have private-equity owners looking to cash out.