Chris Cumming

Pacific Continentalin Eugene, Ore., has named a new head for its operations around Seattle.

Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) in Columbus, Ohio, has expanded its auto-finance business into its 17th state.

American Express plans to sell a 50% stake in its business-travel division in a bid to expand the operation.

United Security Bancshares in Thomasville, Ala., has recruited its next chief financial officer from Regions Financial.

Banks with assets of less than $50 billion will get a one-year reprieve from making their stress tests and capital plans adhere to Basel III standards, the Federal Reserve Board said Tuesday.

Country Club Bank in Kansas City, Mo., has promoted several executives.

Independence Bancshares (IEBS) in Greenville, S.C., has hired two former Verizon executives — Aditya Khurjekar and Humphrey Chen — to broaden its mobile-banking services.

The credit bureau Experian has named new leadership for two major business units within its North American credit services group, along with a handful of other executive appointments in the group.

Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., is offering to sell up to $125 million of subordinated notes to repay its trust-preferred debt.

The European bank UniCredit has picked First Data to develop its mobile-payments offerings for Europe.

Jacksonville Bancorp in Florida has raised $1 million through a rights offering.

Ocwen Financial in Atlanta has retired approximately $159 million of debt held by a private-equity backer.

Sandler O'Neill included several new additions to its annual ranking of top-performing small banks and thrifts, suggesting that small lenders are slowly returning to pre-crisis health.

Sterling Financial in Spokane, Wash., has gone ahead with rebranding its California operations as Argent Bank despite its recent merger announcement.

Webster Financial in Waterbury, Conn, said Gerald Plush, its president and chief operating officer, will step down at the end of the month.

Financial technology firm FIS has released a suite of analytics applications to help banks improve their marketing, pricing and special offer programs.

Investar Bank in Baton Rouge, La., is getting ready to go public.

New York state regulators have proposed a sweeping set of rules to reform the force-placed insurance industry, in the latest sign that the government is taking steps to correct what critics call an abusive industry practice that overcharges homeowners.

Tracy Grooms, formerly of Bank of America, did not stay retired long. Queens University has hired her to teach undergraduates about banking at its business school, which is named after the most famous B of A exec of all.

James Watson, the bank's president, will become CEO on Oct. 1, the $1.1 billion-asset company said Thursday.