First Niagara Financial Group's (FNFG) first-quarter profit rose, as the bank boosted its commercial lending and picked up more checking account customers.

The $4.7 billion-asset parent of Cole Taylor Bank swung to a $7.7 million profit in the first quarter from a $2 million loss in the same period last year, thanks largely to a surge in mortgage lending.

BB&T has dedicated more resources to courting big borrowers, and its expansion in Texas via M&A is paying off, CEO Kelly King says.

Fueled by acquisitions and strong organic loan growth, People's United Financial (PBCT) in Bridgeport, Conn., said Thursday that it earned $58.8 million in the first quarter, up 36% from the same quarter in 2011.

Consumers are more disappointed with bank fees, but that frustration has been largely offset by more positive experiences at branches and ATMs, according to a new survey by J.D. Power and Associates.

In October of last year the acting chairman of the FDIC said at the annual ABA meeting, "the FDIC is going to undertake a number in initiatives to further our understanding of the challenges and opportunities for community banks."

Larry Hattix believes that adding outside bureaucracy "will significantly delay exam processing and corrective actions," while making it more difficult for regulators to intervene when problems arise at banks and thrifts.

Increased mortgage banking revenue helped lift first-quarter profit at Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) of Portland, Ore.

Two New England banking companies are getting closer to requiring their directors to stand for election yearly.

Annapolis Bancorp (ANNB) has repaid half of the $8.2 million it owed the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

S.Y. Bancorp (SYBT) in Louisville, Ky., posted record earnings in the first quarter even as its loan portfolio is beginning to show some cracks.

New York Community Bancorp Inc. on Wednesday posted a 76% first-quarter jump in mortgage banking revenue from a year earlier, as the bank saw robust growth in multi-family and commercial real estate loans.

PacWest Bancorp of Los Angeles said Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings fell 50% from a year earlier, to $5.3 million, due to largely to costs related to prepaying $225 million of fixed-rate term Federal Home Loan Bank advances.

A surge in mortgage lending powered Cardinal Financial (CFNL) in McLean, Va., to a $7.7 million profit in the first quarter, an increase of nearly 47% from the same period in 2011.

A proxy battle at First Financial Northwest has gotten nasty after an activist investor labeled the company's leaders as "idiots" who are "deficient in judgment or lacking in character."

The pace of bank failures will slow considerably this year as the industry continues to recover from the real estate bust, according to the acting head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Banks are clamoring to lend to the most creditworthy small businesses, even as credit availability remains broadly limited.

Cathay General Bancorp of Los Angeles reported first-quarter earnings of $24.8 million, up roughly 38% from a year earlier, as credit quality improved

We are in danger of a harmful proposal, which could be implemented this week. The proposal by the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service would require all banks located within the United States to report interest payments made to nonresident alien depositors. The IRS in turn would exchange this information with foreign governments for data about Americans in those countries.

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