Americas

Jones Bancshares LP agreed to serve as a source of strength to its $405.1 million-asset PrimeSouth Bank in Blackshear, which has been operating under a consent order from the Federal Deposit Insurancce Corp. since Jan. 31.

First Financial Holdings Inc. in Charleston, S.C., is looking to unload $155 million of mostly troubled real estate loans by the end of 2011.

First BanCorp in San Juan, P.R., has increased the maximum amount of its planned capital raise from $550 million to more than $562 million.

Bank of Hawaii in Honolulu has agreed to pay $9 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in which it was accused of improperly charging overdraft fees on debit card transactions.

The Los Angeles company is now telling investors it may scale back its ambitions and raise only what it needs to complete its acquisition of rival Center Financial Corp.

A trio of Colorado congressmen — Ed Perlmutter, Mike Coffman and Scott Tipton — are sponsoring the Capital Access for Main Street Act.

Eagle Bancorp Inc. in Bethesda, Md., said last week that it has received a $56.6 million investment from Treasury and that it will use about $23.2 million of that to repay the remaining balance on a loan it received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Driven by improved asset quality and a widening net interest margin, PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles reported a profit of $12.8 million in the second quarter, nearly five times what it earned in the same period last year.

Arrow Financial Corp. reported second-quarter profit of $5.8 million, a 2.4% increase over the same period last year.

Citing improved asset quality and a widening net interest margin, Webster Financial Corp. in Waterbury, Conn., reported a $33.4 million profit in the second quarter, an increase of more than 162% from the same period in 2011.