SunTrust Banks Inc. has agreed to sell First Mercantile Trust Co., a Memphis provider of retirement plan record-keeping and investment management services, to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

MainSource Financial Group Inc. in Greensburg, Ind., said Wednesday that it has a deal to buy 1st Independence Financial Group Inc. in Louisville, Ky., for $37 million in cash and stock.

Provident Bankshares Corp. warned Wednesday that it expects to write down as much as $47.7 million this quarter because of a significant drop in the value of its investment securities.

Umpqua Holdings Corp. in Portland, Ore., has restructured its retail banking division and created six "super regions" for its Oregon, Washington, and California markets.

PrivateBank has expanded into the Minneapolis market after adding three executives from LaSalle Bank Corp.

Meta Financial Group Inc. has been notified that Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. might delist its stock because it did not file a quarterly earnings report with the Securities and Exchange Commission on time.

Many young people like to participate in improvisational comedy skits — even if they are about saving money.

A proxy fight is brewing at Vineyard National Bancorp — and the antagonist is the Corona, Calif., company's former chief executive officer.

After Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans in August 2005, the future for Liberty Bank and Trust Co. appeared uncertain.

Kenneth E. Edge, who was credited with transforming Amcore Financial Inc. of Rockford, Ill., from a local to a regional player in northern Illinois, has retired as its chief executive officer.

Central Bancompany in Jefferson City, Mo., plans to merge two of its banks to create the ninth-largest bank in the Kansas City market.

Shares of Cascade Bancorp fell sharply Friday after the Bend, Ore., company announced it had revised fourth-quarter and 2007 earnings to reflect growing weakness in its portfolio of construction and land development loans.

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First of Long Island Corp. in Glen Head, N.Y., said Friday that its fourth-quarter net income rose 10.6% from a year earlier, to $3 million. Earnings per share rose 11%, to 40 cents.

Exchange Bancshares of Moore Inc. in Moore, Okla., said it has agreed to sell itself for $16.1 million, minus some items, to an investor group led by a Michigan physician.

Don't tell TriState Capital Bank's president, Bill Schenck, that loan demand is weak these days.

Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc.'s stock plunged Thursday, after the company warned that its fourth-quarter loss would be higher than the previously announced $20.4 million, due to a significant increase in its loan-loss provision.