California

Profit rose at First Republic Bank in the second quarter, as higher loan originations and fee-based business offset a spike in employee salaries that was partly caused by the bank raising its minimum wage.

That’s the message that two funds have for directors of Commonwealth Business Bank in Los Angeles.

Charles Schwab Bank, BBVA Compass and Mechanics Bank are among the latest investors in a California microfinance firm that specializes in small-business lending.

The $7.9 billion-asset holding company for Citizens Business Bank said David Farnsworth will start as credit chief of both entities on July 18. He will succeed James Dowd, who retired on July 1.

Cathay General Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy SinoPac Bancorp from Bank SinoPac in Taiwan.

The number of customers who obtained 10 payday loans in 2015 outnumbered those who obtained just one, the California Department of Business Oversight said in a report Wednesday.

Banc of California in Irvine has changed its bylaws to allow for majority voting for directors.

Bay Bancorp in Columbia, Md., has named one of its largest investors, Steven Hovde, to its board.

The recently rebranded California International Bank has stiffed the government on 30 dividend payments and has spurned a request to let Treasury officials observe its board meetings. There is some optimism; a Vietnamese businessman was approved to take over control after injecting $4.5 million in capital into the bank.

The $5.3 billion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that it will buy two branches in the California markets of Granada Hills and Burbank from the $7.3 billion-asset Boston Private Financial Holdings in Boston.

Wells Fargo, widely regarded as the industry's least complex megabank, has recently made big moves into the volatile world of investment banking. But don't read too much into it, according to John Shrewsberry, its chief financial officer.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in Lodi, Calif., has agreed to buy Delta National Bancorp in Manteca, Calif.

A longtime California bank regulator and executive has joined the board at Hanmi Financial in Los Angeles.

The $654 million-asset bank said in a press release Monday that it had reorganized under OP Bancorp after receiving approval from shareholders and regulators.

First Republic Bank in San Francisco plans to raise about $178 million through a common stock offering.

Community Business Bank in West Sacramento, Calif., has finally put the Troubled Asset Relief Program in the past.

Nonperforming commercial-and-industrial loans are soaring, and loans to farmers and construction firms — not just oil and gas companies — are a big reason.

Banc of California’s shareholders delivered a pair of rebukes for the Irvine company’s management.

Louise Walker, the head of First Northern Bank in Dixon, Calif., will be wearing an additional hat over the next year — chair of the California Bankers Association.

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles is the latest bank to exit its loss-share agreements with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.