Illinois

Wells Fargo, the world’s largest bank by market value, agreed to buy the bulk of a railcar- and locomotive-leasing unit from General Electric as the industrial giant retreats from financial services.

Get a bunch of community bankers together and they start sharing efficiency ratios like golf scores. There seem to be more bogeys than holes in one these days in the course of cost-cutting.

Centrue Financial in Ottawa, Ill., plans to sell 4.8 million shares on behalf of stockholders. The shares would be worth $77 million based on the most recent price of $16 per share.

First Midwest Bancorp in Itasca, Ill., has agreed to buy Peoples' Bank of Arlington Heights in Illinois.