The all-stock transaction is slated to close in the second quarter of 2025. It would create a bank with more than $15 billion of assets.

The Ohio-based bank said it would hire 350 people to operate retail banking and wealth management businesses in a region where it recently launched commercial banking.

The bank faced credit setbacks in the nation's capital and margin pressure this year. But it made a series of hires to reduce risk and diversify its loan portfolio, preparing for a new era of demand as the industry awaits interest rate cuts.

Branches are being closed at a record pace because of mergers and financial reasons. If a closed branch is in a good location and meets certain other conditions, it can represent a low-cost way for a community bank to expand.

The Minneapolis-based banking giant is enjoying its biggest year ever for 7(a) lending, with volume up 40%, as borrowers "are still coming to us," its SBA chief said.

After hikes pinched profits across the industry, a move in the opposite direction could be the start of a more promising trend. But bankers caution that the immediate effects of a September rate cut figure to be small.

The inquiry, which is focusing on the nation's four largest airlines, aims to protect consumers from potentially unfair, deceptive and anticompetitive practices.

The deal to buy the First of Long Island Corp. would create a $14 billion-asset bank with $11 billion of both loans and deposits.

The top five banks in this list closed a net total of 148 branches in this time period — and 492 branches in the past 12 months.