if a bank is trying to be sold?

I don't think so. Other banks interested or brokers working on their behalf are sworn to confidentiality. This is not the kind of info the bank would voluntarily put out there....

If its your bank - keep your eyes and ears open. There will be strangers wandering around with no clear explanation of who they are - loan files will be pulled and taken to these strangers for review.....You may think they are auditors or examiners. They aren't allowed to talk with the staff.

^^^ What waldensouth said. Also extra board and senior management meetings.

At the last bank I worked for that was "on the market" the dead give-away was the Senior Commercial Lender and the Loan Review Manager pulling loan files in the vault in the basement. Neither had ever been there before!

If you are large enough it will be in the newspapers before you find out about it.

Thank you. Our biggest concern is that they are laying off many high paid employees that have been here a long time. Those people are telling our clients about it, and they are coming in and telling us. I am at a remote branch, so we don't see anything out of the norm.

They haven't announced a RIF? Unless it was a condition of the sale, I don't understand that. Normally you would keep your staff and let the purchasing bank pay severance.

I would be paying close attention to your financials. If the bank is in good shape, they are probably setting it up for sale at a higher price by boosting income. If the bank is not in good shape, it my be a last ditch effort to reduce expenses and raise capital.