A growing number of community banks are deciding it is time to put out the "for sale" sign after being frustrated by costly new regulations, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Other bankers are throwing in the towel because their companies have limited growth prospects in a period of weak loan demand, low interest rates and thinning profit margins. With more than 90 deals announced so far this year, 2012 is shaping up to be the biggest year — as measured by number of deals — for bank mergers since 2007, when there were 286 transactions.
