A bankruptcy judge allowed AmericanWest to move forward with plans to hold an auction for its bank, despite an objection from a hedge fund attempting to impede the deal.

When all is said and done, home values will likely increase and foreclosed properties will likely experience the greatest benefit of this given their less-expensive price tags.

Herald National Bank has turned a profit less than two years after being started at the height of the financial crisis.

Carolina Bank Holdings Inc. reported a third-quarter loss Tuesday of $2.1 million, compared to a $110,000 loss a year earlier.

Tower Bancorp Inc. and First Chester County Corp. have extended for a third time the deadline for completing their merger.

Private-equity firms are showing more confidence that credit-quality problems are ebbing. Several recent capital infusions have caught the eye of analysts, especially an announcement on Monday by Brand Group Holdings Inc.

There is a sales group that is more hard core than car salesmen. I'm talking about Girl Scouts. In the eyes of the recipients of their sales pitches, you're a pushy salesperson.

The $4.2 billion-asset Honolulu company said in a press release Tuesday that it has been working with a private-equity investor for a $98 million infusion and "is in the process of seeking to finalize an agreement for such an investment by the end of the week."

Charter Oak Bank of Napa, Calif., which is under regulatory pressure to raise capital, has agreed to be sold to Bay Commercial Bank in nearby Walnut Creek for $2.3 million.

First Financial Bankshares Inc. in Abilene, Texas, has closed its $22.2 million acquisition of Sam Houston Financial Corp. The purchase includes Sam Houston's banking subsidiary, First State Bank in Huntsville.

Green Bank in Houston said Tuesday that it has completed the purchase of certain assets in Texas of the failed La Jolla Bank.

The Northeast has emerged as a hotbed of community bank M&A — and the non-distressed kind, with a growing number of deals among small, healthy institutions at premium prices.

A group of private-equity investors has agreed to inject $200 million of fresh capital into Brand Group Holdings Inc. in Lawrenceville, Ga., the company announced Monday.

Integra Bank Corp. said Monday that its banking subsidiary will not meet a Nov. 10 regulatory deadline to raise capital but that it has not stopped trying.

Mark Hoppe, the president and chief executive of Taylor Capital Group, waited 991 days for a profit. This past quarter his company delivered, earning $33.4 million.

Losses at Sun Bancorp Inc. in Vineland, N.J., swelled in the third quarter, to $75.3 million, from $6.5 million a year earlier.

The $2.2 billion-asset company announced Friday that it had entered into definitive agreements for $103 million, with $9 million coming from Henry "Ric" Duques, the controlling owner of Legent Group LLC, the parent of Legent Clearing LLC.

CenterState Banks Inc. in Winter Haven, Fla., said it has received approval to consolidate three of its subsidiary banks into a single charter.

First Place Financial Corp. of Warren, Ohio, said a regulatory examination was behind its decision to postpone the release of its results for its fiscal first quarter, which ended Sept. 30.

The $1.5 billion-asset AmericanWest last week announced the sale of its banking subsidiary to a heavily capitalized investor group, SKBHC Holdings LLC, in a bankruptcy court bidding procedure.