Brian Browdie

The Treasury Department has unloaded its latest round of bank stocks from the Troubled Asset Relief Program at a deep discount.

Sales of loans lifted Third Federal Savings & Loan Association (TFSL) in the company's fiscal first quarter.

Earnings at State Bank Financial (STBZ) in Atlanta rose 2.2% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, to $9.3 million.

Revenue from mortgage lending boosted Bank of Hawaii (BOH) in the fourth quarter. Earnings at the $13.7 billion-asset company rose 2.6% from a year earlier, to $40.3 million.

Earnings at United Bankshares rose 5% from a year earlier to $21.2 million. Earnings of 42 cents a share were 1 cent below analysts' average estimate, according to Bloomberg.

HSBC, the $2.7 trillion-asset company, said Wednesday it has named James Comey, a former U.S. deputy attorney general, to its board and formed a new board committee to oversee compliance with laws that aim to deter money laundering and other crimes.

TCF Financial in Wayzata, Minn., posted higher quarterly results after reporting an uptick in lending for equipment purchases.

Christy Romero, the inspector general monitoring Tarp, says the same financial institutions deemed too big to fail have only gotten bigger.

A legislator in San Francisco is seeking a review of possible losses to the city from banks' alleged manipulation of a benchmark that determines the price at which banks lend to one another.

Now that a version of a trailer for an anti-Muslim film has been removed from YouTube, the al-Qassam Cyber Fighters say they will suspend their denial of service attacks against banks.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Submissive on Pay: The Treasury Department failed to rein in outsize executive pay at some of the biggest bailed-out companies last year, according to a report published Monday by the special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Treasury officials awarded 63% of the 25 highest-paid employees at Ally Financial, AIG and General Motors total pay packages in 2012 that topped the median pay for executives at similar companies by more than $37 million. The Journal observes that Treasury previously rejected the watchdog's criticism and declined to institute policy changes on pay, "a sign the report might not crimp the future pay packages of GM and Ally Financial executives." The Treasury recently sold its remaining shares in AIG, so the company no longer has to submit its pay packages for approval. The Times echoes the point, noting that a report by the inspector general in 2012 "made similar criticisms." The Washington Post also picks up the thread, noting that Monday's report evaluates Treasury's actions since last year "with stinging allegations of lax oversight and supervision."

The inspector general monitoring Tarp says that, despite its previous warnings, the Treasury Department has failed to improve its policies and procedures to ensure that its own guidelines on executive pay are met.

Expenses weighed on UnionBanCal in San Francisco in the fourth quarter. Earnings at the $97 billion-asset company, which is wholly owned by Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, fell 4.7% from a year earlier, to $123 million.

UBS Chairman Axel Weber is urging fellow leaders of some of the world's biggest financial institutions to settle government probes into their alleged manipulation of a benchmark that determines the price at which banks lend to each other.

Interest income and fees boosted Chemical Financial's quarterly results.

TCF Financial (TCF) in Wayzata, Minn., will pay $10 million to settle an investigation by U.S. authorities into alleged money-laundering lapses.

Owners of small businesses may feel more hopeful about the future, but their hiring plans remain on hold.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is pushing back against a shareholder proposal to let investors vote on whether the bank should consider taking itself apart.

Hancock Holding (HBHC) reported higher quarterly earnings after it cut costs and generated higher fee income.

Regulators took a series of enforcement actions against banks last month in connection with management oversight, capital adequacy and other matters.