Finance

California regulators have approved a request from private-equity firm Carpenter & Co. to raise capital for a new state-chartered bank.

Avidbank Holdings in Palo Alto, Calif., has raised $12 million through a private placement of debt.

More banks are looking to buy commercial loans for reasons ranging from a dearth of organic opportunities to a need to diversify their asset mix. That surge in demand is creating an imbalance that benefits banks that have been able to make more loans.

San Francisco sued American Express Co. for allegedly stifling competition with excessive fees, seeking billions of dollars in restitution to merchants.

LegacyTexas Financial Group in Plano will issue $75 million in subordinated debt for potential acquisitions and other uses.

The private equity firm founded by Eugene Ludwig has sold about 6% of its stake in Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida for $7.3 million.

Entegra Financial in Franklin, N.C., has adopted a plan to preserve the value of about $12.2 million deferred tax assets.

Coastal Banking in Beaufort, S.C., has redeemed stock that it originally issued as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, after it obtained a $10 million loan.

Heartland BancCorp in Gahanna, Ohio, has raised $5.4 million in a private placement.

BankUnited expects to receive about $393 million in proceeds from the offering. It plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including investments in and advances to its bank subsidiary.

Ally Financial in Detroit plans to redeem about $1.3 billion of preferred stock, opening the door to a possible stock buyback next year.

Mid Penn Bancorp in Millersburg, Pa., plans to exit the Small Business Lending Fund program and redeem a separate pool of preferred stock through an upcoming debt sale.

First Republic Bank in San Francisco plans to raise up to $230 million from an offering of common stock.

First Guaranty Bancshares in Hammond, La., has decided to again test the market for an IPO. The $1.4 billion-asset company in December postponed a stock offering that would have raised around $65 million, as concerns mounted about the impact the slide in oil prices would have on the bank.

Florida overturned a ban on credit card surcharges on the grounds that it violates merchants' free speech. Some lawyers doubt that this unusual strategy has legs, but it has worked in a surprising number of courts.

First National Corp. in Strasburg, Va., will redeem about $14.6 million of preferred stock that was originally issued through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Eagle Bancorp in Bethesda, Md., has redeemed all the shares it accumulated through the Small Business Lending Fund program.

The company recently created a collateralized-debt obligation backed by bank debt, bringing to mind the types of structured investments that plagued smaller banks a few years ago. This time, StoneCastle will hold all the credit risk, instead of selling it off to banks. The CDOs are backed by relatively straightforward sub debt rather than hybrid securities.

While executives are eager to put excess capital to work, the sell-off of KeyCorp stock following the announcement of the First Niagara deal shows investors will react swiftly — and severely — when it appears a buyer has overpaid.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group has completed its divestment of Citizens Financial of Providence, R.I.