Mississippi

With energy stocks enjoying the biggest rebound since the beginning of the oil rout, short sellers have shifted their sights to regional banks that do business with the industry.

Hancock Holding is warning of more pain in its energy portfolio as low prices continue to hamper oil and gas firms’ ability to repay their loans.

The former chief executive of a failed bank in Lincoln, Neb., was sentenced to 11 years in prison for forming a scheme to hide more than $100 million in losses from shareholders and regulators.

A dozen banks from Arkansas to Virginia are nearing $10 billion in assets, where they will face higher compliance costs and caps on interchange fees. Mergers among those institutions could create a new class of regional bank.

Hancock Holding in Gulfport, Miss., has nominated the chief financial officer for the city of Tampa, Fla., to join its board.

Sandhills State Bank in Bassett, Neb., has agreed to buy Bank of Keystone in Keystone, Neb.

Bank executives have faced relentless questions about their energy-sector exposure during fourth-quarter earnings calls this month, as oil has bobbed above and below $30 a barrel. They are taking more drastic actions to contain losses, but it still might not be enough.

The Mississippi bank hopes its settlement talks with the CFPB and Justice Department ultimately clear the way for it to complete acquisitions in Texas and Louisiana, but time is running short.

Trustmark in Jackson, Miss., reported lower quarterly profit after a decline in deposit service charges and mortgage banking offset loan growth and reduced expenses.

The collapse in oil prices hammered fourth-quarter profits at Hancock Holding as the Gulfport, Miss., sharply boosted its loan-loss provision address weakness in its energy loan book.