Americas

The Birmingham, Ala., investment bank has hired John Hamel from Roth Capital Partners and two associates to its group that advises on bank deals. Hamel will report to Robert Hutchinson, head of investment banking for depository institutions.

Green Bancorp in Houston is bulking up in the Dallas area with a deal to buy Opportunity Bancshares in Richardson, Texas.

Three years after shutting down its indirect automobile lending unit because it lacked scale, First Niagara Financial Group (FNFG) in Buffalo is jumping back into the business in a big way.

Continuing its expansion in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Eagle Bancorp (EGBN) in Bethesda, Md., has opened a pair of residential loan offices in Maryland and Virginia.

Tompkins Financial in Ithaca, N.Y., is planning to raise $30 million in a secondary stock offering and may use the proceeds to redeem securities issued to VIST Financial through the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated a written agreement with the former Cadence Financial about a year after the Starkville, Miss., company was acquired.

AmericanWest Bank in Spokane, Wash., is deepening its presence in California with plans to acquire Security Business Bank of San Diego.

Provident New York Bancorp (PBNY) in Montebello has added its fifth commercial banking team in the New York City market since January.

BankAtlantic Bancorp (BBX) said in a regulatory filing that it will change its name to BBX Capital as part of its deal to sell its thrift to BB&T (BBT) in Winston-Salem, N.C.

An institutional investor at Broadway Financial (BYFC) has agreed to swap its preferred shares for common stock to help the Los Angeles company attract more capital.