Washington Trust Bancorp Inc. of Westerly, R.I., reported a 9% jump in first-quarter net income Monday, saying that revenue growth outpaced salary and benefit costs in the period.

F.N.B. Corp. of Hermitage, Pa., announced Monday that it would buy Erie County's second-oldest community bank, the $69 million-asset National Bank of North East.

Independent Bank Corp., of Ionia, Mich., announced first-quarter earnings Monday of $11.3 million, up 35% from the same quarter last year. Diluted earnings per share were of 53 cents were up 24% but missed the average of analysts' expectations by a penny.

When Houston's Anadarko Petroleum Corp. decided late last year to automate its process for verifying leases and paying property owners, it asked Southwest Bancorp. of Texas Inc., not a software company, to do the job.

The Federal Reserve Board said Civitas BankGroup Inc. of Franklin, Tenn., has signed an enforcement order in which it agreed to strengthen internal audit functions and hire a consultant to review its management and board.

Columbia Bancorp in Columbia, Md., announced Monday first-quarter earnings of $3.8 million, up 28.4% from a year earlier.

MB Financial Inc. of Chicago said Friday that its first-quarter earnings rose 17.7% from the same quarter last year, to $17.2 million.

Community Bancorp Inc. of Escondido, Calif., has agreed to buy the $113.8 million-asset Rancho Bernardo Community Bank for $33.2 million in cash and stock.

Nevada lawmakers are taking a second stab at legislation to prevent Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from obtaining an industrial loan company charter - even though the retail giant is not seeking one there.

Simmons First National Corp. in Pine Bluff, Ark., said Thursday that earnings in the first quarter rose 8.3% from a year earlier, to a record $5.9 million.

First Merit Corp. of Akron reported Thursday that first-quarter earnings were up 136% from a year earlier, to $30 million.

TCF Financial Corp. of Wayzata, Minn., announced Wednesday that first-quarter earnings rose 5% from a year earlier, to $63.5 million.

Lawrence B. Seidman has a well-documented history of shareholder activism, so when he disclosed that his investment group had bought a 5% stake in Interchange Financial Services Corp. of Saddle Brook, N.J., analysts and investors began buzzing that Interchange might soon be in play.

MIDWEST

The Independent Community Bankers of America asked congressional tax writers to study whether all credit unions should continue to be exempt from paying taxes on their earnings.

Westamerica Bancorp of San Rafael, Calif., said its first-quarter earnings dipped because of a loss from the sale of securities.

Fidelity Bankshares Inc. of West Palm Beach, Fla., said its first-quarter earnings rose 19.8% from the same period last year, to $6.8 million.

When Georgia Derrico and Roderick Porter sold the Virginia bank they had run for nearly two decades, their plan was to retire and split their time between their homes in northern Virginia and southern Italy.