United Community Financial Corp. in Youngstown, Ohio reported a fourth-quarter profit of $7.9 million, compared with a loss of $17.3 million a year earlier, after selling four branches.

A tepid economy and regulatory uncertainty together make for strange bedfellows, as epitomized by recent deals to sell two banks to, of all things, credit unions. And along with the deals comes renewed debate on whether the nonprofit institutions should be taxed.

The FDIC is holding an auction for jewelry it inherited from the failed Tennessee Commerce Bank. The bank picked up the baubles after a jewelry store defaulted.

Citigroup has renewed a long-term deal to continue issuing private-label credit cards for Citgo Petroleum Corp., the bank said Thursday.

The Treasury Department in 2010 took a massive haircut on its investment in Pacific Capital and now stands to make roughly 90 cents on the dollar from the bank's sale to UnionBanCal. It's a reminder that taking your lumps early on problem assets can be beneficial.

A securities class-action lawsuit against Wilshire Bancorp Inc. in Los Angeles has been dismissed after the plaintiffs failed to file an amended complaint in the case.

ECB Bancorp Inc. will no longer buy the deposits and certain assets of seven North Carolina branches from Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc. in Norfolk, Va., after funding for the deal fell through.

Tom Grady resigns after eight months on the job to temporarily lead Florida's biggest insurer.

The Federal Reserve's stress tests and capital decisions this week help clarify which banks can afford to buy, how much they can pay and which might need to sell.

LifeLock is betting that its acquisition of ID Analytics, which closed Wednesday, will help it better market its services to retail banks.

Discover Financial Services will have its credit cards issued outside of the United States for the first time, thanks to a new deal in Ecuador.

Two small Massachusetts mutual thrifts are planning to join forces in hopes of gaining the scale to better compete against larger banks.

Several regional banks that were also stress-tested by the Federal Reserve but whose results were not made public announced that they have passed their tests. Some, including Comerica, Huntington and Discover, plan to free up trapped capital.

For the second time in less than a year, Colony Financial Inc. in Los Angeles has raised fresh capital through a stock offering.

Regions Financial Corp. will raise about $900 million in a common stock offering as part of a plan to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Northfield Bancorp Inc. in Avenel, N.J., has agreed to buy Flatbush Federal Bancorp Inc. in Brooklyn, N.Y., in a deal that will combine two mutual holding companies.

Wintrust Financial Corp. in Lake Forest, Ill., will raise up to $126.5 million in capital through a preferred stock offering.

BB&T shouldered more risk when it agreed to make its already complex deal for BankAtlantic more complicated. But the risk is manageable -- and worth it, experts say.

Mistakes happen when increasing business demands drive decisions that exceed what bank core systems can do. Unfortunately, those demands keep coming.

Great Western Bancorp. Inc. of Watertown, S.D., has agreed to buy North Central Bancshares Inc. in Fort Dodge, Iowa, for $41.5 million.