Wintrust Financial Corp. in Lake Forest, Ill, said Wednesday that second-quarter earnings fell 10% from a year earlier, to $11.8 million.

FirstAtlantic Bank said Wednesday that it had agreed to buy CenterBank in a deal that will combine two Jacksonville, Fla., banks.

Security Savings Bank in Southport, N.C., said that it has hired an Atlanta firm to help it explore strategic option, including a possible sale.

Jim Grant discusses public policy and industry consolidation.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. in San Antonio reported that second-quarter earnings rose 5.3% from a year earlier, to $55.7 million, although the company struggled to capitalize on a windfall of excessive liquidity.

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After striking two deals around Kansas City, Mo., last year, Laney, the Boston-based president and chief executive of NBH Holdings Corp., has moved on to Colorado, buying the $1 billion-asset Bank of Choice in Greeley on Friday in a deal with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Trustmark Corp. in Jackson, Miss., said Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings jumped 21% from the same period last year, to $31.6 million.

Warburg Pincus, one of the oldest and best-known private-equity players, has arrived at a strategy that experts say might offer a blueprint for the next phase of private-equity investing in banks.

Sterling Bancorp in New York reported strong loan and deposit growth in the second quarter, but profits were dampened somewhat by the cost of exiting the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

First Interstate BancSystem Inc. in Billings, Mont., said this week that second-quarter net income rose 48%, to $9.9 million, from a year earlier, despite an increase in its nonperforming loans.

PrivateBancorp Inc. reported its fourth-straight quarterly profit Tuesday, but weak loan growth and declining revenue have raised questions about whether the Chicago company can maintain the momentum.

BancorpSouth shares jumped sharply a day after the company reported an impressive financial turnaround, reporting earnings of $12.8 million for the second quarter.

In what would be its first open-bank acquisition in five years, Wintrust Financial Corp. in Lake Forest, Ill., announced Tuesday that it is acquiring Elgin State Bancorp Inc. in Elgin, Ill., for $13.8 million in cash and stock.

Bolstered by improved credit quality and growing demand for Small Business Administration loans, Nara Bancorp Inc. in Los Angeles reported its fourth-consecutive quarterly profit in the three months that ended June 30.

Yadkin Valley Bank and Trust Co. in Elkin, N.C., has exited the wholesale mortgage business in order to better focus on retail mortgage lending.

Northwest Bancshares Inc. in Warren, Pa., said this week that its second-quarter earnings were down 7% from the same period last year, to $15 million, due largely to costs related to an employee stock-benefit plan.

Shares of BancorpSouth Inc. were up sharply early Tuesday after the Tupelo, Miss., company rebounded from a surprisingly weak first quarter to report a second-quarter profit that handily beat analysts' estimates.

Aided by strong loan and deposit growth, Signature Bank in New York reported a record-setting $36.6 million profit in the second quarter, up 64.4% from the same period in 2010.

A large securities gain boosted second quarter earnings at Heartland Financial USA Inc. in Dubuque, Iowa, by 137% from a year earlier, to $8.9 million.