Oklahoma

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Several lenders are attempting to recover a combined total of nearly $500 million from the estate of the deceased chief executive of an Oklahoma energy company.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., reported lower quarterly profit that reflected a still-elevated loan-loss provision.

The $31 billion-asset company said in a press release that Marty Grunst will also join its executive leadership team on Aug. 1.

The $3 billion-asset First United did not disclose how much it will pay for the $2.3 billion-asset American Bank. The deal is expected to close later this year.

The rise in oil prices in recent months is welcome news for the energy sector, but it doesn't mean that oil and gas firms — and the banks that lend to them — are out of the woods just yet.

RCB Bank in Claremore, Okla., has agreed to buy CornerBank in Winfield, Kan.

Midland Financial in Oklahoma City has hired a former Wells Fargo executive to run its finance unit.

Former Oklahoma governor and American Bankers Association chief Frank Keating has been named a director of BancFirst in Oklahoma City.

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.

Midland Financial in Oklahoma City has agreed to buy 1st Century Bancshares in Los Angeles.

Southwest Bancorp in Stillwater, Okla., and LegacyTexas Financial Group in Plano have disclosed exposure to a commercial borrower that faces criminal and civil investigations.

Armada, a technology consulting firm in Tulsa, has hired as its president Frank McKeon, a former IBM executive who consulted with banks.

Banks are generally selling for less than they did before the financial crisis. Yet there have been select instances in which buyers have been willing to pay significant premiums to sellers' tangible book values. Here are the highest premiums since January 2015 for deals valued at $100 million or more.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services is warning banks with high levels of exposure to the energy industry to think twice before ramping up their lending in other sectors.

Frank Keating, former chief executive of the American Bankers Association, has joined the law firm Holland & Knight as a partner.

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.

Randy Peterson, the chief executive of Bank of Eufaula in Oklahoma, was shot and killed on Thursday by a robber. He was 64.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., has acquired E-Spectrum Advisors, a Dallas investment bank that focuses on the energy sector.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., is the latest banking company to warn about deepening credit issues in the energy sector.