Georgia

SunTrust Banks in Atlanta has agreed to buy the multifamily lending business of Pillar Financial in New York.

Ameris Bancorp in Moultrie, Ga., reported a double-digit increase in profits thanks to an acquisition, organic loan growth and other factors.

Oconee Financial in Watkinsville, Ga., has named a former Atlanta-area banker its new chief executive.

Banks are dumping their mortgage servicing rights because low rates and new rules make it hard to earn a profit. SunTrust, Flagstar and First South Bancorp in North Carolina are taking the opposite view.

Years of branch closures and job cuts are paying off for banks in the form of much-improved efficiency ratios. But with low interest rates still crimping profits, banks remain under pressure to continue reducing expenses.

Colony Bankcorp in Fitzgerald, Ga., has redeemed $3.6 million in perpetual preferred stock associated with the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

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.

National Commerce in Birmingham, Ala., has agreed to buy Private Bancshares in Atlanta.

The latest lending figures show just how prodigious banks' shift from construction to C&I loans has been since the crisis. Yet a hard look at C&I credits, especially their loss rates, raises questions about whether they are safer.

Another data firm plans to seek regulatory certification as a credit bureau for payday lenders.

Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga., has agreed to pay nearly $9 million to settle lawsuits that claim the company knew of illegal transactions by one of its clients.

SouthCrest Financial Group in Woodstock, Ga., has found a new leader after his predecessor departed eight months ago.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., reported higher quarterly gains spurred by fee revenue.

SunTrust Banks in Atlanta on Friday reported a slight increase in profit that could have been greater were it not for a surge in energy chargeoffs.

Executives at several minority-owned community banks nationwide, including OneUnited Bank in Boston and Carver Federal Savings Bank in New York, say they have received a windfall of deposits in recent weeks, coinciding with the introduction of the Black Money Matters Project.

Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga., reported higher second-quarter earnings on solid growth in revenue and loans for investment properties.

Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga., has plucked its next chief financial officer from in-state rival SunTrust Banks.

Liberty Shares in Hinesville, Ga., one of a handful of banks still stuck in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, has raised $26 million in capital.

The Little Rock, Ark., bank got the final regulatory approval it needed to buy C&S and C1, but not before agreeing to address some community reinvestment concerns in the Atlanta market and elsewhere.

Synovus Financial struggled along with its customers during the financial crisis. Now that it's healthy again, it credits the strong ties it built with those customers, and the involvement of its executives in the communities they serve, with helping restore its status as one of banking's most reputable brands.