Robert Barba

Regulators failed four banks late Friday, pushing the total number of collapses this year to 143. Closures are now are at their highest point since the S&L crisis.

Regulators failed four banks late Friday, pushing the total number of collapses this year to 143. Closures are now are at their highest point since the S&L crisis.

The Office of Thrift Supervision has given Superior Bancorp of Birmingham, Ala., until the end of March to strengthen capital ratios significantly.

The largest shareholder of Sterling Bancshares Inc. is preparing for a proxy contest to overhaul the Houston company's board.

The private-equity commitments that Central Pacific Financial Corp. of Honolulu touted in its Nov. 2 earnings release have been finalized.

A handful of small banks have also struck deals recently that will heighten their name recognition and allow them to cull customers out of massive audiences.

The $4.2 billion-asset Honolulu company said in a press release Tuesday that it has been working with a private-equity investor for a $98 million infusion and "is in the process of seeking to finalize an agreement for such an investment by the end of the week."

Mark Hoppe, the president and chief executive of Taylor Capital Group, waited 991 days for a profit. This past quarter his company delivered, earning $33.4 million.

The $2.2 billion-asset company announced Friday that it had entered into definitive agreements for $103 million, with $9 million coming from Henry "Ric" Duques, the controlling owner of Legent Group LLC, the parent of Legent Clearing LLC.

First Place Financial Corp. of Warren, Ohio, said a regulatory examination was behind its decision to postpone the release of its results for its fiscal first quarter, which ended Sept. 30.

All that's standing between Flagstar Bancorp Inc.'s past as a troubled mortgage lender and a potential future as a full-service community bank is $1.1 billion of problem loans.

Wintrust Financial Corp. in Lake Forest, Ill., on Wednesday reported earnings of $20.1 million for the third quarter, as interest income rose and its loan-loss provision fell dramatically.

First Place Financial Corp. in Warren, Ohio, has pushed back the release of results for its fiscal first quarter. The $3.1 billion-asset company was expected to release results for the quarter that ended Sept. 30 after the market closed Tuesday, but instead issued a brief press release saying that the report, along with a conference call with investors scheduled for Wednesday, had been postponed.

PrivateBancorp Inc. in Chicago returned to the black in the third quarter. The $12.5 billion-asset company reported Tuesday that it earned $4.5 million, compared with a loss of $818,000 in the second quarter and a loss of $31.2 million a year earlier.

Nara Bancorp Inc. of Los Angeles swung to a $4 million profit in the third quarter, a 37% improvement from a year earlier, after selling a pool of problem loans.

S&T Bancorp Inc. in Indiana, Pa., said Monday that its third-quarter earnings rose 41% year over year, to $10.9 million, on an increase in noninterest income.

Bank of Hawaii Corp. in Honolulu said Monday that its third-quarter earnings rose 20% from a year earlier, to $44.1 million, as a reduction in credit costs and an increase in mortgage banking revenue offset lower interest income.

Chemical Financial Corp. in Midland, Mich., on Monday reported that its third-quarter profit rose 255% from a year earlier, to $8.9 million, as credit costs declined and it began recognizing the benefits of a recent acquisition.

Seven banks failed Friday, bringing the total number of failures this year to within one of the number of failures in all of 2009. So far 139 banks have failed in 2010. Friday's failures are expected to cost the deposit insurance fund a collective $478 million.

Glacier Bancorp Inc. in Kalispell, Mont., said it earned $9.4 million in the third quarter, compared with a $1.5 million loss a year earlier, as its loan-loss provision declined and noninterest income grew.