Regulators have ordered the banking unit of AB&T Financial Corp. in Gastonia, N.C., to improve its asset quality and evaluate its allowance for loan losses.

The simmering battle between banks and credit unions is heating up again, as credit unions revive their push in Congress to allow their industry to make more small business loans.

With numerous attractive institutions and robust growth markets, the state could kickstart a round of traditional deals nationwide. The only problem? Texas bankers also know they're attractive, and the most comely banks aren't interested in low-priced dates.

Credit unions are an aggressive bunch. As if their heavy-handed push to expand into prohibited business lending wasn't enough, it now seems they are adding on another power grab to increase their ability to raise supplemental capital and support investors.

Shares of NASB Financial Inc. rose more than 6% Wednesday after the Grandview, Mo., thrift company said it earned $4.9 million in the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared to a loss of $3 million in the the same period in 2010.

Failure has been the most common way out of enforcement actions in the current cycle, but outcomes may be improving.

Lakeland Bancorp Inc. in Oak Ridge, N.J., has paid off its remaining debt to Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Democrats and Republicans said Wednesday they would support a bill to ensure that certain information shared with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during exams is protected by attorney-client privilege.

Chino Commercial Bancorp in California has extended its stock offering for the second time because of a high level of interest.

HomeStreet Inc. in Seattle has hired more than 160 former MetLife Inc. mortgage professionals across three Pacific Northwest states.

Banks spend wastefully on information technology, leaving plenty of room for improvement, Oracle's Mark Hurd says.

In an improving economy, many of the policies and procedures that were imposed on banks in 2008 have become counterproductive, and are hurting rather than helping the industry.

BBCN Bancorp, the Los Angeles company formed after Center Financial and Nara Bancorp merged, said Wednesday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 42% from the same period a year earlier due primarily to expenses related to the merger.

Citigroup is partnering with the Enterprise Community Loan Fund and Next Street Financial to invest $30 million in small businesses.

More than eight months after Sterne Agee Group Inc. announced that it is planning to acquire a community bank, the name of the bank has finally been revealed: Citizens Exchange Bank.

Park National Corp. in Newark, Ohio, swung to a profit in the fourth quarter but still earned less than what analysts were expecting.

Northern States Financial Corp. in Waukegan, Ill., plans to delist its common stock from the Nasdaq by Feb. 17.

Commercial National Corp. in Latrobe, Pa., said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income climbed 44% from the same period in 2010, to $1.2 million, as lower funding costs and increased income from investments more than offset a decline in loan balances.

Bankers are up in arms over the fact that a Congressional oversight has raised doubts about whether documents submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will retain attorney-client privilege.

Old Second Bank remained well-capitalized at year-end, but the company's stubborn portfolio of nonperforming assets continues to present a challenge to capital levels.