As loan-loss reserves normalize, the earnings benefit from lower provision expenses will abate and earnings will be squeezed. M&A should emerge as an attractive strategy to maintain earnings and generate growth.

Zions Bancorp. (ZION) posted lower fourth-quarter earnings after taking a big charge on its holdings of collateralized debt obligations.

Sierra Vista Bank (SVBA) in Folsom, Calif., is soldiering on with newly raised capital, though its profit shrank in the fourth quarter.

EverBank and OneWest appear set to do what regulators and the largest mortgage servicers concluded was impractical: Finish the independent foreclosure reviews.

Other acquisitive banks have dropped regional monikers, but Bank of the Ozarks in Little Rock, Ark., is focusing on service instead of rebranding, its CEO says.

First Financial Northwest (FFNW) in Renton, Wash., reported higher quarterly earnings after settling a lawsuit with an activist investor.

Persistent challenges such as margin compression and rising expenses will eventually force more banks to sell.

Investar would acquire a bank with two branches in southeastern Louisiana.

Old National Bancorp (ONB) in Evansville, Ind., reported a small rise in fourth-quarter earnings, as higher expenses offset a rise in interest income.

Expenses weighed on UnionBanCal in San Francisco in the fourth quarter. Earnings at the $97 billion-asset company, which is wholly owned by Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, fell 4.7% from a year earlier, to $123 million.

Interest income and fees boosted Chemical Financial's quarterly results.

TCF Financial (TCF) in Wayzata, Minn., will pay $10 million to settle an investigation by U.S. authorities into alleged money-laundering lapses.

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Owners of small businesses may feel more hopeful about the future, but their hiring plans remain on hold.

Freshman lawmaker Rep. John Delaney, who used to head commercial lender CapitalSource, discussed his priorities as a new member of House Financial Services Committee.

The Little Rock, Ark., bank plans more deals in addition to its agreement to buy First National Bank of Shelby in North Carolina. Similar deals by other buyers could be on the horizon.

Loan-loss reserves will soon reach a point of equilibrium with the size and risk profile of loan portfolios, making it harder for banks to reduce provisions.

Hancock Holding (HBHC) reported higher quarterly earnings after it cut costs and generated higher fee income.

Regulators took a series of enforcement actions against banks last month in connection with management oversight, capital adequacy and other matters.

Prosperity Bancshares (PB) in Houston ended a year in which it completed five deals and announced another with a jump in profit.