Community banking

The Treasury Department will take a huge hit when Cecil Bancorp sells it bank, while 1st Mariner Bank in Baltimore will see its equity stake completely wiped out. Cecil opted for bankruptcy court when it was unable to resolve an impasse over its trust-preferred stock.

The region is responsible for a third of all bank sellers — and more than half of the industry's overall deal volume.

Community banks are less likely to close branch locations than their larger counterparts. But those branches should mix technology with the homespun local flavor customers have come to expect.

Deciding it had had enough of problem energy credits, Houston’s Green Bancorp shifted capital to Small Business Administration loans, increasingly popular among community banks because of the premiums they fetch from investors and Washington's increased commitment to the guarantee program.

It might seem unusual for an Old National Bancorp to lure away a regional executive from the much larger Fifth Third, but not in wealth management, where competitiveness can be as much about emphasis as size.