Americas

Aided by solid loan growth, Chemical Financial Corp. in Midland, Mich., and Lakeland Financial Corp. in Warsaw, Ind., reported sharp increases in profits for the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

Deposit gains hurt third-quarter profits at big banks such as Wells Fargo & Co., but they led to record profits at Signature Bank in New York.

FirstMerit Corp. in Akron, Ohio, reported third-quarter earnings of $31.7 million, up about 9% year over year, thanks to increased commercial lending activity and fewer problem assets. Earnings per share were rose 7%, to 29 cents, beating analysts' estimates by a penny, according to Thomson Reuters.

West Coast Bank in Lake Oswego, Ore., has been ordered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to improve oversight of its overdraft program and reimburse customers who incurred overdraft fees last year using their debit or ATM cards.

In a bid to raise fresh capital, ailing Waccamaw Bankshares Inc. in Whiteville, N.C., is selling eight of its branches in North Carolina and three in South Carolina to rival First Bancorp in Troy, N.C.

1st United of Boca Raton struck two deals in three days that would move it into central Florida and give it 26 branches in the state.

Piedmont Community Bank Holdings Inc. in Raleigh, N.C., said Monday that it received regulatory approval to buy a majority stake in Crescent Financial Corp. for $75 million.

FNB United Corp. has completed its acquisition of Bank of Granite Corp., part of the unprecedented merger of two ailing banks in North Carolina.

Fred Joseph, Colorado's banking commissioner, said Community Banks of Colorado should have been able to sell its branches in a bid for more time to resolve its problems. But the FDIC and the Fed overruled him — and then failed the bank.

Bank of Hawaii Corp. in Honolulu posted third-quarter earnings of 92 cents a share, nine cents more than the average expectation of analysts.