With the market starting to value banks on their earnings rather than their book values, buyers are looking for deals that will prop up their bottom lines over the long term and are willing to pay more.

The Federal Reserve Board's Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey said credit conditions are improving for commercial and industrial loans but standards remain tight on mortgages and consumer debt.

Blue Hills Bank in Boston is buying a New England franchise from Sovereign Bank.

Noninterest expenses remain persistently high at community banks as a need to pursue revenue undermines efforts to aggressively make cuts.

Patapsco Bancorp (PATD) in Baltimore has appointed Phil Phillips its new chief executive after recording a quarterly loss.

Suffolk Bancorp (SUBK) in Riverhead, N.Y., will record a pretax gain of nearly $4 million in the third quarter after selling shares in Visa.

Hanmi Financial (HAFC) in Los Angeles has hired Bonita Lee, a recently departed executive from BBCN Bancorp (BBCN), as its chief operating officer.

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Heritage Oaks Bancorp (HEOP) in Paso Robles, Calif., has agreed to repurchase the stock warrants it issued through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

WASHINGTON — Regulators seized a $265 million-asset bank based in Fort Myers, Fla., late Friday and sold its operations in a deal protecting all of the failed bank's depositors.

Unlike their bigger competitors, smaller banks are resisting the temptation to pare staff or close mortgage production offices because they still see an opportunity to nibble away at large banks' market share.

The Treasury Department plans to sell shares in five community banks for a discount of approximately 60%.

The $7.2 billion-asset company will auction between $15 million and $35 million of senior notes, it announced Friday.

Improved loan quality is allowing banks to reduce provisions, but industry experts believe that option may soon be tapped out.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated an enforcement action against Eastern Virginia Bancshares in Tappahannock and has fined Blencoe State Bank in Iowa.

Pacific Trust Bank in Los Angeles has exercised its option to buy CS Financial in Beverly Hills, the bank said in a regulatory filing. Jeffrey Seabold, the managing director of Pacific Trust's residential lending division, is a majority owner of CS.

Carrollton Bancorp (CRRB) announced Thursday that its chief financial officer had resigned from the company roughly 75 days after it hired him.

SouthCrest Financial (SCSG) in Peachtree City, Ga., has raised nearly $18 million from a group led by Castle Creek Capital.

Maria Mitchell, a 19th century U.S. astronomer with historic ties to Pacific National Bank of Nantucket, was commemorated with a special doodle on google.com Thursday.