When bankers sought to recover costs associated with the 2004 data breach at BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., they pinned their case on a breach of contract argument.

Columbia Bancorp in The Dalles, Ore., said it would charge off $2.1 million this quarter because of a bad loan to a potato farmer.

Center Bancorp Inc. in Union, N.J., announced Monday that it has hired an investment bank to help it review its strategic options, including a possible sale.

Irwin Financial Corp. of Columbus, Ind., reported a first-quarter loss Monday of $10.1 million, or 36 cents per diluted share, compared with a loss of $1.9 million, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier.

Amcore Financial Inc. of Rockford, Ill., is looking to two executives it hired last month to help it make the most of the branch building it has done over the past few years.

The $4.3 billion-asset Sterling Bancshares of Houston said Friday it has a deal to buy MBM Advisors Inc., a Houston investment firm that manages about $700 million of assets.

Sterling Bancorp in New York said first-quarter profits fell 46% from a year earlier, to $3.5 million, because of a tax-related gain it recorded in the first quarter of last year.

Though its name may suggest otherwise, International Bancshares Corp. in Laredo, Tex., is chiefly focused these days on making a bigger name for itself in its home state.

Kearny Financial Corp. in Fairfield, N.J., reported a sharp drop in first-quarter earnings due to an increase in its deposit costs.

Like many small banks, the $22 million-asset Johnsonville State Bank in South Carolina has found it increasingly difficult of late to compete for deposits while grappling with higher regulatory costs and trying to maintain credit quality.

Losses continue to mount at Coast Financial Holdings Inc. as the Bradenton, Fla., company reported a huge spike in nonperforming loans related to the bankruptcy of a home builder.

The United Nations has been promoting "green" lending for 15 years and counts some of the world's biggest banking companies as its partners.

Shares of Greater Bay Bancorp jumped 11.6% Thursday after the company postponed its first-quarter earnings report.

Despite reporting lackluster earnings this week, Nara Bancorp received an upgrade Wednesday on speculation that the Los Angeles company will emerge soon from a memorandum of understanding ready to spend capital.

MIDWEST

Prosperity Bancshares Inc. in Houston said it has a deal to buy Bank of Navasota, with $73 million of assets, for $17.4 million in cash and stock.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, is expected to sign into law a bill that could bring an end to lawsuits over credit union expansion.

Atlantic Coast Federal Corp. in Waycross, Ga., said Tuesday that its first-quarter net income fell 30%, to $774,000, from the year earlier.

With its deal for Community Banks Inc., Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. in Lititz, Pa., would absorb a longtime competitor and gain significant scale in markets where growth has been hard to come by.