Alan Kline

The agreements with rivals Community Bank System and Financial Institutions Inc. would complete First Niagara's planned divestitures in connection with its blockbuster deal for much of HSBC Bank's retail franchise.

Vastly improved credit quality combined with respectable loan growth propelled Associated Banc-Corp to its most profitable quarter since Philip Flynn took over as chief executive two years ago.

With its expenses continuing to run above its long-term expectations, Huntington Bancshares Inc. said Thursday that is planning to close 29 free-standing branches across its six-state network during the first quarter.

Gateway Bancshares Inc. in Ringgold, Ga., is selling itself to rival First Volunteer Corp. in Chattanooga, Tenn., and its chief executive said that the decision was driven largely by the need for scale.

Glacier Bancorp Inc. in Kalispell, Mont., is planning to collapse its 11 bank subsidiaries into a single commercial bank in a move aimed at streamlining its operations and lowering its overall compliance costs.

Buoyed by improved asset quality and a surge in commercial loan originations, Webster Financial Corp. in Waterbury, Conn., said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income jumped 63% from the same period in 2010, to $39.6 million.

In contrast to its more ambitious plan to expand in Florida through acquisitions, BB&T Corp. is taking a measured approach to growth in Texas.

Malvern Federal Bancorp Inc.'s stock price soared to its highest level since mid-summer Wednesday after the Paoli, Pa., company announced that it is converting from a mutual holding company to a 100% stock-owned company.

Western Liberty Bancorp in Las Vegas has established a new nonbank subsidiary to house problem assets of its bank subsidiary in a move it says will help it more quickly dispose of the troubled loans and improve its overall efficiency.

Landmark Bancorp Inc. in Manhattan, Kan., is buying Wellsville Bancshares Inc. in what would be its first bank acquisition in more than six years.

Northern Trust Corp. in Chicago is laying off about 700 workers worldwide and eliminating more jobs through attrition as part of a broad initiative to trim annual overhead by $250 million.

The Federal Reserve Board has ordered Southwest Florida Community Bancorp Inc. to maintain its health so that it can serve as a source of strength for its ailing bank subsidiary, First Community Bank of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers.

Strong loan growth combined with a surge in wealth management assets powered First Republic Bank in San Francisco to a $90.7 million profit in the fourth quarter, up 19% from the same period in 2010.

Morgan Stanley could be handing out thousands of more pink slips in the coming months as the investment bank contends with slumping revenues and the potential loss of business due to new regulations that could sharply curtail its trading activities.

Riverview Bancorp in Vancouver, Wash., is projecting a loss of up to $5.6 million in the quarter that ended Dec. 30 after determining that five previously performing real estate loans are now considered to be impaired.

Chief John A. Kanas has hired Goldman Sachs Inc. to help it find a buyer, according to news reports. Reasons for selling a bank that has outlined big growth plans puzzles observers.

Shares of the thinly traded First California Financial Group Inc. soared Friday after it was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the wealthy owners of the Minnesota Twins baseball club have acquired a large stake in the banking company and are pushing for its sale.

Costly regulations associated with being a bank holding company appear to have forced another insurance company to give up its bank charter.

BankAtlantic Bancorp's deal to sell the bulk of its assets to BB&T Corp. has come under attack from yet another BantAtlantic investor: Wells Fargo.

IberiaBank Corp. in Lafayette, La., is eyeing expansion in Birmingham and other metropolitan markets in Alabama.