California

SVB Financial Group's fourth-quarter net income was more than double what it earned a year earlier, at $35.6 million.

Fueled by a lower provision for loan losses and rising net interest income, Cathay General Bancorp's profits surged more than 68% in the fourth quarter, to $23.6 million, from a year earlier.

East West Bancorp Inc.'s shares surged early Friday following news that the Pasadena, Calif., company had a record-breaking 2011 and plans to double its dividend.

Serial acquirer Grandpoint Capital Inc. has announced its first acquisition of 2012 as it prepares for the closing of its last announced deal.

Westamerica Bancorp. in San Rafael, Calif., reported fourth-quarter earnings of $21.8 million, down 8% from a year earlier.

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles reported higher quarterly earnings Wednesday after recouping more covered losses from its failed-bank acquisitions.

Strong loan growth combined with a surge in wealth management assets powered First Republic Bank in San Francisco to a $90.7 million profit in the fourth quarter, up 19% from the same period in 2010.

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.

Chino Commercial Bancorp in California reported fourth-quarter earnings of almost $168,000, three times higher than a year earlier, and year-end income of more than $441,000, about 45% higher than 2010’s results.

Broadway Financial Corp. in Los Angeles said Wednesday that it once again complies with Nasdaq listing requirements after filing its third-quarter earnings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pacific Capital Bancorp in Santa Barbara, Calif., is using some of its excess cash to pay down debt and resume paying interest on trust preferred securities.

Continuing its expansion in entertainment hotbeds outside of Southern California, City National Bank in Los Angeles has opened its first banking office in Atlanta.

Bank of the West plans to almost double the size of its small-business banking team during the next year.

The Nasdaq has warned Broadway Financial Corp. that the company is in danger of being delisted from the exchange.

Mission Community Bank in San Luis Obispo, Calif., has named Tom L. Dobyns, a longtime California community banker, as its new chief executive.

Two Los Angeles community banks largely owned by the same investment group are planning to merge - the latest in a string of deals between California banks.

First Northern Community Bancorp in Dixon, Calif., said Monday that it had exited the Troubled Asset Relief Program after repurchasing a stock warrant from the Treasury Department.

Hanmi Financial said it is planning to sell 87.5 million common stock shares at 80 cents a share, using a "substantial portion" of the funds to provide capital to its banking unit and to support growth.

Nara Bancorp Inc. and Center Financial Corp. said on Monday that they had cleared their last regulatory hurdle for their planned merger after they received approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., said Friday that it has raised $100 million in capital from management and investment funds as part of a plan to keep pace with its loan growth.