First Interstate BancSystem Inc. in Billings, Mont., said this week that second-quarter net income rose 48%, to $9.9 million, from a year earlier, despite an increase in its nonperforming loans.

PrivateBancorp Inc. reported its fourth-straight quarterly profit Tuesday, but weak loan growth and declining revenue have raised questions about whether the Chicago company can maintain the momentum.

BancorpSouth shares jumped sharply a day after the company reported an impressive financial turnaround, reporting earnings of $12.8 million for the second quarter.

In what would be its first open-bank acquisition in five years, Wintrust Financial Corp. in Lake Forest, Ill., announced Tuesday that it is acquiring Elgin State Bancorp Inc. in Elgin, Ill., for $13.8 million in cash and stock.

Bolstered by improved credit quality and growing demand for Small Business Administration loans, Nara Bancorp Inc. in Los Angeles reported its fourth-consecutive quarterly profit in the three months that ended June 30.

Yadkin Valley Bank and Trust Co. in Elkin, N.C., has exited the wholesale mortgage business in order to better focus on retail mortgage lending.

Northwest Bancshares Inc. in Warren, Pa., said this week that its second-quarter earnings were down 7% from the same period last year, to $15 million, due largely to costs related to an employee stock-benefit plan.

Shares of BancorpSouth Inc. were up sharply early Tuesday after the Tupelo, Miss., company rebounded from a surprisingly weak first quarter to report a second-quarter profit that handily beat analysts' estimates.

Aided by strong loan and deposit growth, Signature Bank in New York reported a record-setting $36.6 million profit in the second quarter, up 64.4% from the same period in 2010.

A large securities gain boosted second quarter earnings at Heartland Financial USA Inc. in Dubuque, Iowa, by 137% from a year earlier, to $8.9 million.

F.N.B. Corp. in Hermitage, Pa., reported that its second quarter earnings rose nearly 25% from a year earlier, to $22.4 million, up nearly 25%, due largely to lower credit costs.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has launched an investigation of the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, the middleman in millions of foreclosure filings.

Commerce Bancshares Inc. and Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. are in rare company as small banks with top shares in major cities.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency definitely got the better end of its merger with the Office of Thrift Supervision. But among the downsides: The OCC is now on the legal hook for closing a thrift it never regulated.

Chemical Financial Corp. in Midland, Mich., reported Monday that its second quarter earnings rose 150% from a year earlier, to $11 million, as credit costs fell and net interest income increased.

These five banks are making deals work in the down economy, but they are tough acts to follow.

Metro Bancorp Inc. in Harrisburg, Pa., reported Monday that second quarter earnings jumped 453% from a year earlier, to $2 million, due to a sizable drop in its loan-loss provision.

Bank of Hawaii Corp. in Honolulu reported that its earnings fell nearly 25% from a year earlier, to $35.1 million, as it paid out $9 million to settle a class-action lawsuit involving overdraft fees on debit cards.

S&T Bancorp Inc. in Indiana, Pa., reported that its second-quarter earnings rose 58.5% from a year earlier, to $14.9 million, due largely to improved asset quality and the resolution of several nonperforming loans.

WASHINGTON — Two failed banks in Florida went to one acquirer Friday, and regulators also shut a $1 billion-asset bank in Colorado, as the year's failure total reached 58.