Washington

Sterling Financial Corp. of Spokane, Wash., has laid off 6% of its full-time employees as it works to reach an ambitious efficiency ratio goal by 2013.

The $77.6 million HomeStreet Inc. expects to raise in its initial public offering would go a long way toward improving its capital levels but not far enough to satisfy a regulatory order.

Columbia Banking System Inc. in Tacoma, Wash., and an aggressive buyer of failed banks, rode those acquisitions to a strong fourth quarter.

Sterling Financial Corp. in Spokane, Wash., returned to the black for the year as credit quality improved.

First Independent Bank has notified employees whose jobs will be eliminated after the Vancouver, Wash., bank is sold to Sterling Financial Corp. of Spokane, Wash.

The deal between Sterling Financial and First Independent, both of Washington state, relies on a complex carve-out from a bank holding company. Creative maneuvers are needed these days, but this model isn't for everyone.

The Spokane, Wash., bank added a chapter to its comeback story Monday in agreeing to buy the banking operations of an instate rival.

Sterling Financial Corp.'s shares jumped 11% Wednesday, to close at $15.02, after the once-embattled Spokane, Wash., company reported its highest quarterly profit in nearly four years.

Anchor Bancorp's losses widened in the third quarter, though the Lacey, Wash.-based company shrunk its nonperforming assets.

Washington Federal Inc. in Seattle said Thursday that profits in its fiscal-year fourth quarter nearly doubled from a year earlier as its volume of problem loans continued to shrink.

Washington Federal Inc. in Seattle said Monday that it had completed its purchase of six Charter Bank branches and $254 million in deposits in New Mexico.

FJ Capital Management said Thursday that it had received a "significant investment" by Bridge Equities LLC.

Bryan McDonald will become president and chief executive of Whidbey Island Bank in Coupeville, Wash., on Jan. 1.

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, Wash. – 1st Security Bank of Washington, the ailing one-time credit union known until 2004 as Washington's CU, plans to raise up to $32 million in an initial public offering.

In a Q&A during a FIG Partners banking conference, Jack Wagner discussed growth opportunities. M&A will likely come from traditional deals rather than failed bank acquisitions. He is also keeping an eye on costs should the economy remain stalled.

Weighed down by problem loans, Anchor Bancorp in Lacey, Wash., reported a loss of $4.7 million in the quarter that ended June 30, more than quadrupling its loss from the same period a year earlier.

Banner gained $1.9 million from fair value adjustments on certain financial instruments, which played a key role in its quarterly profit of $224,000.

Improved asset quality, lower credit costs and gains on investment securities powered Washington Federal Inc. in Seattle to a $30.1 million profit in the quarter that ended June 30, an increase of 138% over the same period in 2010.

Richard M. Riccobono, the former chief executive at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle and one-time deputy director at the Office of Thrift Supervision, has landed a new job as the chief banking regulator in Washington State.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has received regulatory approval to buy Cascade Financial Corp. in Everett, Wash.