Eric John Abrahamson, author of "Building Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American Dream," talks about what lenders today can learn from Howard F. Ahmanson's story.

FirstMerit in Akron, Ohio, reported higher first-quarter earnings thanks to better fee income and lending as well as lower expenses.

Signature Bank posted higher quarterly profit after adding more loans and deposits.

UMB Financial in Kansas City, Mo., posted solid quarterly results on loan growth and lower credit costs.

Synovus Financial (SNV) in Columbus, Ga., reported lower first-quarter earnings because of pressure on its net interest margin.

Pacific Mercantile Bancorp in Costa Mesa, Calif., has a new president and chief executive.

Wilshire Bancorp (WIBC) in Los Angeles reported lower quarterly earnings, but when a tax benefit was excluded, its results were relatively unchanged from a year earlier.

Regions Financial Corp., Alabama's biggest bank, said first-quarter profit rose 68 percent, beating analyst estimates as the lender cuts costs and reduced provisions for loan losses.

Profit fell at BancorpSouth (BXS) in Tupelo, Miss., on declining net interest revenue and a hefty charge for legal expenses.

Georgetown Bank in Massachusetts has named Philip Bryan its chief operations officer. Bryan had been Georgetown's chief lending officer since joining the company in 2010.

Zions Bancorp. (ZION) more than tripled quarterly profits as it recorded a credit for its loan-loss provision and lowered its interest expenses.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Monday that it was restructuring the agency to add an office that will directly deal with financial institutions and their trade groups.

Generations Bank in Seneca Falls, N.Y., plans to begin moving its critical banking applications to Compushare's C3 Cloud Computing platform.

Navy Federal Credit Union, the largest such institution in the U.S., is unlikely to be designated systemically important, according to a member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

The U.S. unit of the Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria kicked off a partnership with Christie's auction house by inviting private-bank customers to a special art exhibit in Dallas.

First Scottsdale Bank had $80 million in assets, but then it agreed to buy a $224 million-asset competitor and outbid five others to acquire a $45 million-asset bank from the FDIC.

Dozens of community banks have reported quarterly results. Here's what we've learned so far.

Several community banks are taking a serious look at building eco-friendly branches — not just to be "green," but to save some green, too.

Amalgamated, a New York bank that manages assets for hundreds of pension plans, has secured a $139 million settlement from News Corporation in a suit it filed against the media giant on behalf of its clients.

Equity Bancshares in Wichita, Kan., may use the Troubled Asset Relief Program to buy a stake in Blue Valley Ban Corp, an in-state rival.