Alan Kline

Webster Financial Corp. in Waterbury, Conn., has notified investors that it is considering raising more capital for the purpose investing in new business lines, bolstering its capital levels and perhaps making acquisitions.

Shares of Republic First Bancorp Inc. soared Wednesday after the Philadelphia company announced that it had sold $59 million of mostly problem real estate loans to a single investor.

Roger S. Berkowitz, the chief executive of Legal Sea Foods, has been elected to the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Ohio thrift Cheviot Financial, in the process converting to 100% stock-owned company, is giving initial subscribers to its public offering the option to buy up more shares.

After a months-long internal investigation into its accounting for loan losses, Suffolk Bancorp in Riverhead, N.Y.. has restated its 2010 earnings to show a much smaller profit than first reported.

In what would be its first acquisition since 2007, Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc. in Olney, Md., announced late Tuesday that it is buying CommerceFirst Bancorp Inc. for $25.4 million in cash and stock.

Continuing to expand its mortgage lending into neighboring states, Washington Trust Co. in Westerly, R.I., announced Tuesday that it has opened a loan production office in Glastonbury, Conn.

First United Bancorp Inc. in Boca Raton, Fla., is unloading three of the seven western Florida branches it inherited when it acquired the failed Old Harbor Bank in Clearwater in October.

SCBT Financial Corp. in Columbia, S.C., announced Tuesday morning that it is buying the $546 million-asset Peoples Bancorporation Inc. in Easley, S.C., for $28 million in stock.

A small South Florida bank is now considered to be undercapitalized after it restated year-to-date results to show a larger loss than first reported.

BankUnited Inc. in Miami Lakes, Fla., opened three new branches on both Florida coasts Monday and now has opened a dozen branches in its home state since Nov. 7.

JPMorgan Chase said it is planning to install roughly 800 automated teller machines at ampm convenience stores/gas stations in California and four other western states.

Aiming to boost its sagging stock price, Hanmi Financial Corp. has completed a one-for-eight reverse stock split that will reduce its number of shares outstanding by 87%, to 31.5 million.

Hudson City Bancorp Inc. said Friday that it has paid down $4.3 billion of high-cost debt in a move the company says will wipe out fourth-quarter profits but boost its net interest margin going forward.

Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc. in Norfolk, Va., has shuffled its management ranks and created several new divisions as it aims to regain its footing after suffering steep losses on real estate loans.

Webster Financial Corp. in Waterbury, Conn., has promoted Chief Operating Officer Gerald P. Plush to president of the company and its Webster Bank subsidiary, effective immediately.

S.Y. Bancorp Inc. in Louisville, Ky., is looking to expand in the Indianapolis market.

Southwest Bancorp Inc. in Stillwater, Okla., has sold off roughly $300 million of problem loans in a move its chief executive said is a major step toward achieving its goal of sustained profitability.

Sturgis Bancorp Inc. in Michigan is suspending dividend payments to shareholders because management believes its strategy for propping up capital ratios by shrinking assets is no longer viable.

Two independent advisory firms are recommending that shareholders at Brooklyn Federal Bancorp Inc. in New York vote in favor of the thrift company's plan to merge with Investors Bancorp Inc. of Short Hills, N.J.