Royal Bank of Canada may spend as much as $1.06 billion to buy asset managers outside Canada as the country's largest lender seeks to triple profit from wealth management in the next four years.

Regions Financial Corp. swung to a surprise second-quarter profit, its third in a row, as the lender benefited again from shrinking loan-loss provisions and improved credit quality.

The transaction, which is expected to close Oct. 1, will combine Stone & Youngberg's institutional group with Stifel's public finance and bond underwriting expertise.

Commerce Bancshares Inc. and Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. are in rare company as small banks with top shares in major cities.

These five banks are making deals work in the down economy, but they are tough acts to follow.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.'s directors plan to discuss at a meeting Tuesday the possibility of trying to acquire rival online-brokerage firm E*Trade Financial Corp., according to people familiar with the situation.

LONDON — Lloyds Banking Group PLC Monday said it has received "six credible proposals" for its retail branch network but is also considering an initial public offering.

Summit Account Resolution, a national medical collection agency based in Champlin, Minn., has acquired the assets of AKA Financial, a Minnesota-based health care collector that specials in mid-size hospitals and small medical practices. Terms of the deal were not released.

WASHINGTON — Two failed banks in Florida went to one acquirer Friday, and regulators also shut a $1 billion-asset bank in Colorado, as the year's failure total reached 58.

USAmeriBancorp Inc. in Clearwater, Fla., is planning to acquire the remaining stake in an Alabama bank that it does not already own.

Morgan Keegan, the brokerage unit of Regions Financial Corp., expects to receive initial bids on Monday from companies including Blackstone Group LP, Carlyle Group LP, Stifel Financial Corp. , TPG Capital, Apollo Global Management LLC and Warburg Pincus LLC, Reuters reported Friday citing sources familiar with the situation.

First Niagara Financial Group and M&T Bank are playing it cool on whether they plan to bid for HSBC's branches in upstate New York — but they aren't discouraging speculation, either.

If the second quarter's results are any indication, Hancock Holding Co.'s acquisition of Whitney Holding Co. is destined to be a crowd pleaser.

With loan demand still weak in many areas of the country, more and more bankers are starting to believe that their banks will need to merge with other institutions to achieve meaningful growth.

Last month, Hancock closed its all-stock takeover of Whitney in a deal valued at $1.3 billion.

The insurer wants to sell its depository but keep writing mortgages. Essentially, it’s making a bet on regulatory arbitrage — the idea that certain categories of institutions can dodge scrutiny being placed on their competitors.

Steel man Frank Williams Jr. aims to become a winner in the bank consolidation game by capitalizing on Great Atlantic Financial's losses.

Recent stock sales by banks fall into three categories: the very good, the not so bad and the downright ugly.

The early read on M&A this earnings season: A weak economy and job market are putting a damper on deals, even as lending and revenue tick up.

Electronic invoicing companies Transactis and Data Impact said Tuesday that they merged operations.