Mariner Real Estate Management, a Kansas real estate investment and management firm, has acquired a 25% stake in a loan portfolio totaling about $101 million from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

RDK Collection Services Inc., a collection agency with offices in Troy Mich. and Scottsdale, Ariz., announced Tuesday that it has acquired Automated Collection Systems Inc. (ACS), based in Southfield, Mich. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

M&T Bank Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings fell 28% as the regional bank reported higher expenses related to its May acquisition of Wilmington Trust, though revenue and credit quality continued to improve.

Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. (PRA), a Norfolk, Va.-based debt buyer and collections giant, on Monday announced it has acquired Mackenzie Hall Holdings Ltd., a large UK debt collection and purchasing group.

NCO Group Inc. is expanding the work force at its Charleston, W.Va. contact center.

Wintrust Financial Corp. in Lake Forest, Ill., has agreed to buy the trust operations of Suburban Bank & Trust Co. in Elmhurst, Ill.

Chief John A. Kanas has hired Goldman Sachs Inc. to help it find a buyer, according to news reports. Reasons for selling a bank that has outlined big growth plans puzzles observers.

First Niagara Financial Group CEO John Koelmel discusses his deal to sell 37 branches in New York to KeyCorp, his plans to sell more branches and his argument that its bigger deal with HSBC will pay off.

Shares of the thinly traded First California Financial Group Inc. soared Friday after it was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the wealthy owners of the Minnesota Twins baseball club have acquired a large stake in the banking company and are pushing for its sale.

New data show that banks that sold large sales to dispose of nonperforming assets have seen stock price gains that surpass other banking companies. The approach still has a fair share of opponents who prefer to work out the assets over time.

MetLife Home Loans was profitable and gaining market share. But the risk of having to repurchase soured loans likely fazed prospective buyers.

PremierWest Bank in Medford, Ore., said Friday that it will close one-fourth of its branches to lower expenses as it struggles to return to profitability after more than three years of losses.

BankAtlantic Bancorp's deal to sell the bulk of its assets to BB&T Corp. has come under attack from yet another BantAtlantic investor: Wells Fargo.

Dutch financial services company ING Group said Friday that it may have to sell more assets to repay state aid, as it grapples to meet stricter banking rules and protect itself against choppy markets.

Bank of America has told regulators that it is willing to retreat from some parts of the country if its financial problems deepen, according to people familiar with the situation.

Private equity's impact on job creation has come to forefront over the last week of the Republican presidential candidate primaries, as critics took aim at Mitt Romney's Bain Capital career.

IberiaBank Corp. in Lafayette, La., is eyeing expansion in Birmingham and other metropolitan markets in Alabama.

All banks are affected by more stringent regulation, but it is the less-healthy ones that are most likely to throw in the towel because of it.

KeyCorp returns to the M&A trail for first time in years in agreeing to buy 37 branches in western New York. The seller, First Niagara, is still trying to digest what it already has in the works.

Citigroup Inc. appears to have abandoned its plan to sell its consumer lending unit until the economy improves and it can fetch a better price for it, according to Fitch Ratings Inc.