The Oklahoma State Banking Department has closed Bank of Union in El Reno.

The Riverwoods, Ill., company is the second large private student lender in two weeks to announce plans to enter the long-moribund refinancing market.

The Mississippi bank's latest acquisition would take it into the Austin, Texas, market, but CEO Dan Rollins refuses to answer questions from investors and analysts about how quickly it would earn back its dilution of tangible book value.

CEO Gary Crosby believes new technology will help the Buffalo, N.Y., company generate revenue more in line with being a large financial institution. But his $250 million investment pledge didn't sit well with investors who were hoping for cost-cutting.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) of Los Angeles reported earnings of $31.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2013, an increase of 12.7% from the same quarter a year prior.

State Street Corp., the third- largest custody bank, reported operating earnings that missed analysts' estimates as expenses rose faster than revenue. The shares fell by the most in a year.

The sale represents roughly 73% of the private student loans held by First Marblehead's bank, Union Federal, according to the company's Thursday regulatory filing. Union Federal will receive 103.5% of principal in the deal.

California-based SVB Financial Group (SIVB) announced earnings Thursday of $58.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2013, a 16.7% increase from the same quarter in 2012.

KeyCorp may ultimately need to buy some niche business lines, or sell its operations in some fringe markets, to cure its efficiency woes.

Richard Davis, the head of U.S. Bancorp, criticized other banks that, he says, are overly dependent on releases of loan-loss reserves to boost earnings.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) gave Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon a 74 percent raise to $20 million last year, bringing his pay closer to where it stood before the board faulted his oversight of botched derivatives bets.

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), the largest U.S. home lender, agreed to sell more than 40 percent of its insurance brokerage locations to focus bricks-and-mortar operations on higher-growth regions and bigger clients.

Western Alliance (WAL) in Phoenix reported a drop in quarterly profits largely because of debt valuation adjustments.

Prosperity Bancshares (PB) in Houston, riding its recent wave of acquisitions, posted higher quarterly profit.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits decreased for the second consecutive year in 2013, down 10 percent from 2012, which itself was down 7 percent from 2011. Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigation exploded in 2013, up 69 percent from 2012.

The online lender Western Sky and the online loan servicer CashCall agreed to pay $1.5 million in penalties and stop collecting interest on outstanding loans to New York borrowers in a proposed settlement with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

First Niagara Financial Group (FNFG) in Buffalo, N.Y., met quarterly estimates and announced a plan to invest heavily in technological improvements as it moves beyond its recent phase of rapid growth.

Hancock Holding (HBHC) in Gulfport, Miss., missed earnings estimates in the fourth quarter as the company took $17.1 million in charges related to cost-cutting measures.

New York regulators have reached a settlement with Western Sky Financial LLC, CashCall Inc., WS Funding LLC and their owners, Martin Webb and J. Paul Reddam, for violating the state's usury and licensed lender laws in connection with personal loans they made over the Internet.