News Topic: Community banking

Attractive demographics, a large supply of startups that appeared built to sell and a surplus of smaller banks struggling with high expenses have combined to make the Mid-Atlantic one of the most active regions for mergers and acquisitions. ... Read full article

Numerated Growth Technologies has a platform that lets banks make lending decisions in as little as five minutes. The spinoff will be run by Dan O'Malley, Eastern's former chief digital officer. ... Read full article

The Maryland company agreed to pay $489 million in stock in a deal that is expected to close in the fourth quarter. ... Read full article

The fact that the Troubled Asset Relief Program made billions is of no help to the thousands of banks that suffered, and are still suffering, from the grossly unfair rollout. ... Read full article

Lakeland Bank in Oak Ridge, N.J., found itself deluged by hundreds of angry tweets and Facebook posts Monday after a former bank executive cited pressure from a top House Republican in her resignation. ... Read full article

Federal regulators are early in the process of deciding whether to broaden credit unions' access to capital markets, but banking lobbyists have seen enough to argue that it would let credit unions skirt business-lending limits. ... Read full article

The company also said it believes there are no regulatory obstacles that will derail its planned acquisition of Astoria Financial. ... Read full article

The Federal Reserve is asking Sterling to address deficiencies tied to its collection, verification and reporting of CRA data from 2014 to 2016. ... Read full article

Construction lending could make a comeback if bankers persuade Congress to reform capital and other complicated rules on so-called high volatility CRE loans. But will regulators go for it? ... Read full article

PrivateBancorp investors approved a $4.9 billion takeover by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce after the Toronto-based lender sweetened its deal twice to win over shareholders. ... Read full article

Bank First has agreed to pay $76 million in cash and stock for Waupaca Bancorp. The company should have nearly $1.8 billion in assets when it completes the deal. ... Read full article

Stilwell Group, an activist investor, is alleging that HopFed chief John Peck bought two properties from the then-chairman of the Kentucky company's compensation committee and that the deals were a conflict of interest. ... Read full article

Brent Beardall, who recently took the helm at Washington Federal, discusses having excess capital, myriad potential fintech partners and why he would tweak — not repeal — Dodd-Frank. ... Read full article

The good news: SBA lending is going gangbusters and business owners are optimistic about growth prospects and their ability to access credit. The not-so-good news: Many firms are still not particularly interested in borrowing and startups are not the ... Read full article

First Mutual Holding and Doolin Security Savings Bank are planning to create a mutual with nearly $100 million in assets. ... Read full article

Stonegate Bank in Florida figured its balance sheet was too small and undiversified to stay independent. But it was choosy in approaching potential buyers and aggressively scrutinized the lead bidder’s loan book. ... Read full article

The 2015 written agreement had required Four Oaks to improve corporate governance. ... Read full article

The recent earnings season shined a light on community bankers’ tactical moves. Here’s a look at what some institutions are planning in coming months. ... Read full article