SouthCrest Financial Group (SCSG) in Peachtree City, Ga., has raised nearly $18 million and plans to merge its banks.

Hancock Holding (HBHC) in Gulfport, Miss., reported lower quarterly earnings after taking a charge tied to branch closures and other expense reductions.

Citigroup Inc., the third-biggest U.S. bank, is selling mortgage-servicing rights on $63 billion of loans, or about 21 percent of its total contracts at midyear, according to two people briefed on the matter, who asked not to be identified because the sale is private.

Coast Bancorp (CTBP) in San Luis Obispo, Calif., has hired a new chief financial officer.

National Bank Holdings (NBHC) in Greenwood Village, Colo., cut expenses to compensate for lower revenue in the third quarter.

First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) in Cincinnati posted lower profits in the third quarter on reduced loan and other revenue.

The $17 billion-asset company said late Thursday that Patrick Barrett will succeed Charles Nugent, who is retiring at the end of this year.

SVB Financial (SVB) in Santa Clara, Calif., reported a 60% increase in quarterly profit after investment securities it holds rose more than ninefold in value.

Nobody has told banks in the northwestern U.S. that bank M&A is in the doldrums. Two deals were announced and another terminated there after the markets closed Wednesday, and that will put pressure on banks in the region to keep buying each other.

Sterling Financial (STSA) in Spokane, Wash., reported lower quarterly earnings after suffering a decline in mortgage banking revenue.

WesBanco (WSBC) in Wheeling, W.Va., has hired a Fifth Third (FITB) executive to be its chief operating officer, and plans to promote him to chief executive next year.

Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said Thursday that the agency has no immediate plans to lower the size of the loans the government-sponsored enterprises can buy, though he left the door open for future reductions.

State Bank Financial (STBZ) in Atlanta reported higher quarterly earnings tied to loans it obtained from buying failed banks.

Pioneer Credit Recovery has been ranked No. 1 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 on a contract to recover past-due accounts owed to government agencies.

Quarterly profit slid at First Merchants Corp (FRME) in Muncie, Ind., as interest income and revenue from loan sales fell.

Customers Bancorp (CUBI) in Wyomissing, Pa., compensated for reduced income from its warehouse mortgage business with growth in other lending categories last quarter.

Regulatory concerns dominated the dialogue at a recent debt collections conference in Chicago. Industry practitioners offered a recipe for operating under strict new oversight and for complying with a raft of new regulations. American Banker editors discuss.

Regulators unveiled a proposal Thursday that would institute tough new liquidity requirements on U.S. financial institutions, acknowledging that their plan is harsher than a global framework suggested by international supervisors.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing a Kentucky law firm on allegations that it received illegal kickbacks from certain charges on real estate settlements.