Strategic planning

For remaking East West Bank from a small savings institution into a $36.3 billion-asset player with a seat on the front lines of U.S.-China relations — all while churning out record earnings year after year — American Banker is recognizing Ng for being a "Consistent Performer" as part of our 2017 Banker of the Year awards.

Blue Lion Capital believes a heavy focus on mortgages and acquisitions is hurting HomeStreet's financial performance.

Bridge Bancorp, which plans to rebrand is bank as BNB Bank, also plans to boost 2018 profit by $3.3 million by closing 14% of its branches.

The private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management has taken a 3% stake in Deutsche Bank four months after buying a 5% stake in another German lender, Commerzbank.

The company hired Kevin Thompson, a CFO with big-bank experience, to take over its top financial post. Once a fast-growing bank, Opus has spent recent months cutting costs and exiting certain business lines.

The San Francisco company is one of numerous online lenders that are struggling to become profitable.

The online small-business lender, which has been cutting expenses, said it is on track to achieve profitability in the fourth quarter.

Ira Robbins, the CEO-in-waiting at Valley National Bancorp, will have to complete a major acquisition, make the bank more competitive on returns and costs and tackle other difficult tasks after taking over for Gerald Lipkin.

Focus on ensuring your teams know why you make changes, and they will be far more likely to make those changes work for you.

It's tough to be a bank director these days, as the public and elected officials hold the board responsible for misdeeds that occur on their watch. Turnover is up, and filling the seats is more of a challenge than ever.