What to know: Huntington Bancshares in Columbus Ohio believes it could close its $1.9 billion deal for Veritex Financial in Dallas early in the fourth quarter, extending a recent trend of earlier deal completions. Deeper dive: Huntington has acquired most of the land it needs for a planned de novo expansion in North Carolina and South Carolina, and it expects branch construction in the region to accelerate in 2026. Bottom line: Growth in Texas and the Carolinas is boosting the $207.7 billion-asset region ...