Brian Browdie

Westamerica Bancorp. (WABC) in San Rafael, Calif., reported lower quarterly earnings as low interest rates and competition took a bite out of its bottom line.

Citizens First in Bowling Green, Ky., reported higher quarterly results as improved lending offset higher expenses.

Virginia Commerce Bancorp in Arlington took a quarterly hit to earnings after exiting the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Pacific Continental (PCBK) in Eugene, Ore., took advantage of accelerated business lending and lower expenses to post another profitable quarter.

JPMorgan Chase has settled a lawsuit against Javier Martin-Artajo, who supervised a trader in the New York company's London-based investment office whose trades last year cost the company $6.2 billion, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) will pay a combined $557 million to settle allegations they mishandled foreclosures that followed the housing crisis.

The $3.8 billion-asset bank said Wednesday that Robert O'Brien had previously worked at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, where he led the German bank's public finance group.

DDoS attacks have resumed intermittently for BB&T in North Carolina.

Higher mortgage revenue and lower credit losses powered M&T Bank Corp. in the fourth quarter.

United Community Financial in Youngstown, Ohio, has begun a $42 million capital raise.

Bank of America (BAC) has promoted a veteran executive to lead its commercial banking business as part of its latest shuffle of senior managers.

Presidential inauguration planners have named Amalgamated Bank in New York as their go-to financial institution.

First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo, N.Y., is recycling some of its real estate for the benefit of neighbors.

An expansion to the south boosted profits at Washington Federal in Seattle in the fourth quarter.

Bank of America's (BAC) board has reached a $62.5 million settlement of a lawsuit that stems from the bank's purchase of Merrill Lynch in 2009.

The EFT network Shazam will let customers check their debit card balances from a phone or tablet.

EverBank Financial in Jacksonville, Fla., has added lenders to boost business with buyers and sellers of technology equipment.

The Obama administration has ruled out minting money as a way to sidestep the nation's borrowing limit. The Treasury Department will not produce a trillion-dollar platinum coin to pay the federal government's bills, the Washington Post reported Saturday.

Virginia Commerce Bancorp in Arlington is considering selling itself. The $3 billion-asset company said Monday its board would review various alternatives to increase shareholder value, including a possible sale.

JPMorgan Chase's (JPM) board is expected to dock the bonuses of chief executive Dimon and former chief financial officer Douglas Braunstein, as a consequence of the company's $6 billion trading loss at its chief investment office last spring, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.