These five banks are making deals work in the down economy, but they are tough acts to follow.

Metro Bancorp Inc. in Harrisburg, Pa., reported Monday that second quarter earnings jumped 453% from a year earlier, to $2 million, due to a sizable drop in its loan-loss provision.

Bank of Hawaii Corp. in Honolulu reported that its earnings fell nearly 25% from a year earlier, to $35.1 million, as it paid out $9 million to settle a class-action lawsuit involving overdraft fees on debit cards.

S&T Bancorp Inc. in Indiana, Pa., reported that its second-quarter earnings rose 58.5% from a year earlier, to $14.9 million, due largely to improved asset quality and the resolution of several nonperforming loans.

A federal court has ordered Swish Marketing Inc. to pay more than $4.8 million for tricking hundreds of thousands of payday loan applicants into paying for an unrelated debit card.

Wholesaling veteran Al Cristany has accepted a position with 360 Mortgage Group, Austin, Texas, one of the few lenders that funds exclusively in the broker channel.

Total Mortgage Services, a nonbank mortgage lender based in Milford, Conn., on Monday said it plans to hire 50 new loan officers as it expands its retail presence in the U.S.

Most borrowers do not end up in worse neighborhoods, nor do they endure more crowded living conditions after foreclosure, the central bank's economists find.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.'s directors plan to discuss at a meeting Tuesday the possibility of trying to acquire rival online-brokerage firm E*Trade Financial Corp., according to people familiar with the situation.

As we say in New York, the new agency is going to be a first-class “noodge” – pushing and cajoling the industry to simplify, clarify and and modify some of its practices.

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WASHINGTON — Two failed banks in Florida went to one acquirer Friday, and regulators also shut a $1 billion-asset bank in Colorado, as the year's failure total reached 58.

USAmeriBancorp Inc. in Clearwater, Fla., is planning to acquire the remaining stake in an Alabama bank that it does not already own.

Antsy investors are urging some community banks that have survived the recession but just can't get much forward momentum to create value or find a partner that can.

Bank of the Carolinas Corp. fell into a deeper hole in the second quarter, posting a net loss of $9.9 million compared, to a loss of $415,000 a year earlier.

Bank Mutual Corp. in Milwaukee reported a loss of $51.4 million for the second quarter, largely stemming from a $52.6 million goodwill impairment charge.

In blunt comments about cost control, William H. Rogers Jr. showed that he is trying to manage expectations as the new chief executive of SunTrust Banks Inc.

First Niagara Financial Group and M&T Bank are playing it cool on whether they plan to bid for HSBC's branches in upstate New York — but they aren't discouraging speculation, either.

Southside Bancshares Inc. of Tyler, Texas, said that its second-quarter profits rose 18% from same period a year earlier, to $11.5 million, and that earnings per share increased 19.6%, to 67 cents.

Many financial institutions have yet to complete applications to be included in the national registry, exposing themselves to potential sanctions following the July 29 deadline.