Alan Kline

Investors may disagree, but BB&T Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Kelly King believes that a slowing economy is not necessarily a bad thing for U.S. banks.

Great Southern Bancorp Inc. of Springfield, Mo., has received $57.9 million from the Treasury Department's Small Business Lending Fund and will use the proceeds to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Meridian Bank is finally making money again after three years of heavy losses.

Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc. in Norfolk, Va., announced Thursday that its president and chief executive officer, John A.B. "Andy" Davies has resigned to return to his management consulting practice.

Under pressure from its largest shareholder to beef up its capital base, Polonia Bancorp in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., has announced that it is planning to become a 100% stock-owned company.

Former top executives at LaSalle Bank are looking to start a bank that would acquire the assets and deposits of failed banks in and around Chicago.

Profits at State Bank Financial in Atlanta said its second-quarter profit fell 10% from the same period last year as gains in interest income were offset by higher expenses and an increase in its loan-loss provision.

Saehan Bancorp in Los Angeles has reported a profit in two straight quarters after losing more than $75 million in 2009 and 2010.

The investment firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. is advising investors to stop dumping their shares in Westamerica Bancorporation.

Suffolk Bancorp in Riverhead, N.Y., is planning to restate its earnings for third and fourth quarters of 2010, as well as for the full year, after its audit committee determined that portions of the loan-loss provision it took in this year's first quarter should be applied to prior quarters.

Losses at First Financial Services Corp. mounted in the second quarter after the Elizabethtown, Ky., company set aside an additional $13 million to deal with problem loans.

Looking to trim its overhead, West Coast Bancorp in Lake Oswego, Ore., is planning to close three of its roughly 62 full-service branches by the end of November.

After initially warning investors that it expected to report a loss of $4.6 million in the second quarter, Wilshire Bancorp in Los Angeles now says that it turned a $2.1 million profit.

Shares of Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Regions Financial Inc. and just about every other banking company plunged Thursday as concerns about a double-dip recession sent financial markets tumbling.

Aided by two acquisitions and sharply lower deposit costs, BankFinancial Corp. in Burr Ridge, Ill., swung to a profit of $1 million in the second quarter from a loss of $288,000 in the same period last year.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. is offering a new credit card that will allow its small-business customers to set spending controls on cards issued to their employees.

Buoyed by gains in mortgage-servicing revenue, Ocwen Financial in Atlanta reported net income of $26.4 million in the second quarter, up 65% from the $16 million it earned in the same quarter last year.

Clifton Savings Bancorp Inc. in New Jersey said that its second-quarter net income fell nearly 18% from the same period last year due to legal expenses related to its decision to terminate its planned second-step conversion.

Profits at TFS Financial Corp. in Cleveland fell sharply in the quarter that ended June 30, as a surge of new loan activity could not make up for a steep drop in noninterest income.

Rockville Financial Inc. eked out just a small profit in the second quarter after it opted to use the proceeds from its recent second-step conversion to pay down debt and hire new talent.