California

California Bank of Commerce in Lafayette has hired a veteran credit administrator to help expand its small-business lending.

First Republic Bank in San Francisco said Thursday that its third-quarter profit climbed 27.4% from the same period last year, to $171.8 million, thanks to double-digit gains in both interest and fee income.

Large banks are outpacing community banks in deposit gathering because new liquidity rules make deposits more valuable to the biggest banks, mobile banking has been a deposit magnet for the heavyweights, and regional and midsize players hold certain advantages over smaller rivals, too.

First Foundation in Irvine, Calif., has agreed to buy a pair of branches from Pacific Western Bank in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Wells Fargo, the lender grappling with a scandal involving unauthorized customer accounts, had its outlook lowered to negative from stable by Fitch Ratings.

U.S. Bancorp has agreed to settle a lawsuit that claimed it neglected to maintain foreclosed properties in Southern California after the 2008 financial crisis.

A federal judge has silenced — at least temporarily — a whistleblower who brought charges of misconduct at the parent company of Bank of Internet USA in San Diego.

Kim Kaselionis saw a lot of small-business-loan applications die on her desk when she was a bank chief, so she started a crowdfunding firm to nurse along startups till they were bankable. That's where Fresno First comes in.

CU Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to a consent order to address deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance program.

Bank of Southern California in San Diego has agreed to sell $7 million of its common stock to the asset management firm Castle Creek Capital.

The parent company of the consumer lender LendUp has been fined more than $6.3 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the California Department of Business Oversight for overcharging borrowers and violating payday and installment lending laws.

The $8.3 billion-asset CVB said Thursday that it would pay $57.5 million in cash and stock for the $416 million-asset parent of Valley Business Bank.

MUFG Union Bank has named a head of private wealth management for its northern California and Pacific Northwest region.

Provident Financial Holdings in Riverside, Calif., has restated earnings from its most-recent quarter after it booked higher loan-origination costs.

Two big investors in Heritage Commerce have converted some of their ownership in the San Jose, Calif., company to common stock.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calf., has given more responsibilities to its head of capital markets.

AltaPacific Bancorp in Santa Rosa, Calif., has agreed to buy Commerce Bank of Temecula Valley in Murrieta, Calif.

Suncrest Bank in Visalia, Calif., has agreed to buy Security First Bank in Fresno for $18 million in cash and stock.

Plenty of banks have ended their federal loss-share deals early, but despite the incentives to wind them down, plenty more still have these crisis-era arrangements in place. It may be due to varying deadlines, mistakes calculating loan values or worries that they still might need the coverage for home equity lines.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has started a public finance division and hired an executive from Umpqua Bank in Oregon to run it.