Washington

With one of the largest war chests of capital in the Pacific Northwest, Columbia Banking in Tacoma, Wash., has long been viewed as one of that market's likely consolidators.

Washington Federal Inc. in Seattle said Thursday that fourth-quarter net income more than tripled to $24.5 million from $7.9 million a year earlier.

Anchor Bancorp in Aberdeen, Wash., launched a syndicated community offering Wednesday to complete its conversion to a stock company from a mutual.

Yakima Valley Credit Union in Yakima, Wash., said Wednesday that it has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to merge with Catholic Credit Union to create a credit union with almost $500 million in assets and serving 50,000 members.

The Federal Reserve Board reached written agreements with five community banks Thursday.

Rarely is bankruptcy court a welcome detour, but more struggling banks may take it to overcome debtholders blocking their recapitalization efforts.

Several banks rushed to repay investments under the Troubled Asset Relief Program in December, but hundreds head into the new year desperate for an exit strategy, even if it means selling.

Washington Trust Bank in Spokane is offering mobile banking services to its customers through text, mobile Web and dedicated applications using mFoundry Inc.'s software.

AmericanWest Bancorp, a $1.5 billion-asset company in Spokane, Wash., chose to clear the $6.5 million sale through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington.

Heritage Financial Corp. in Olympia, Wash., is taking a 10% discount to its common stock to raise $50 million of fresh capital.

Nasdaq is giving a number of struggling companies a little more breathing room, making it easier for stocks to stay on the exchange even after falling short of listing requirements.

Sterling Financial Corp. in Spokane, Wash., announced plans Thursday for a 1-for-66 reverse stock split.

The $1.9 billion-asset company announced Thursday morning that it has one more day to satisfy the closing conditions of a recapitalization deal with its largest shareholder, David F. Bolger, and Donald Marron's Lightyear Capital LLC.

Cascade Financial Corp., which received a government bailout, is among three small bank holding companies the Federal Reserve is scrutinizing.

Regulators failed four banks late Friday, pushing the total number of collapses this year to 143. Closures are now are at their highest point since the S&L crisis.

The $1.5 billion-asset AmericanWest last week announced the sale of its banking subsidiary to a heavily capitalized investor group, SKBHC Holdings LLC, in a bankruptcy court bidding procedure.

After its $730 million recapitalization, Sterling Financial reported third-quarter net income to common shareholders of $33.6 million.

Banner Corp. of Walla Walla, Wash., has warned investors to be ready for a particularly large loss for the third quarter.

The failures late Friday of the $421 million-asset Wakulla Bank in Crawfordville, Fla., and the $104 million-asset Shoreline Bank in Shoreline, Wash., were estimated to cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. a total of $155 million.

Less than a month after completing a recapitalization, the $9.7B-asset company cleared another major hurdle Monday as regulators rescinded a year-old cease-and-desist order.