PacWest Bancorp, the parent of Pacific Western Bank in Los Angeles, reported earnings of $85.1 million in the second quarter, up 16% from the prior quarter.

Peoples Bancorp in Ohio wants to encourage cross-selling but limits the use of employee incentive payments to make it happen. Instead, Peoples is trying to build a corporate culture in which employees understand all of its products and want to help their colleagues sell them.

BancFirst in Oklahoma City has agreed to buy CSB Bancshares in Yukon, Okla.

BCB Bancorp has sold $2.4 million of preferred stock in a private placement.

WASHINGTON — The House passed a bill Tuesday that could ease the regulatory burden on community and regional banks with mortgage servicing businesses.

Meta Financial Group in Sioux Falls, S.D., agreed to sell $3.1 million of common stock to a group of existing investors and reached a separate agreement to issue prepaid cards for a business partner.

Pave, a marketplace lender, has partnered with Cross River Bank of Teaneck, N.J., to help it expand its online, short-term loan product nationwide.

Commerce Bancshares in Kansas City, Mo., reported higher second-quarter profit, citing the appreciation of inflation-protected securities and higher loan interest.

Signature Bank in New York has partnered with Financial Software Solutions to expand the products and services that it offers bankruptcy trustees.

Prairie Community Bank in Marengo, Ill., has raised $2.48 million in a private placement of its preferred stock.

Clients of many community banks in Illinois can apply for short-term loans as lawmakers grapple over issuing paychecks while the state has no budget.

Sunshine Financial in Tallahassee, Fla., has asked for permission to switch to a state bank charter from a federal thrift charter.

Piper Jaffray has agreed to buy River Branch Holdings, a Chicago investment bank that focuses on financial institutions.

Colorado state regulators on Friday closed the $31.7 million-asset Premier Bank in Denver.

Bank of Stockton in California has agreed to acquire three California branches of from First Banks in Clayton, Mo, according to The Record in Stockton.

BB&T's top executives are set to get up to $2.6 million in bonuses if the Susquehanna deal goes well. While viewed as a good way to make sure the deal works out well, some analysts note that M&A already contributes to executive compensation when it boosts earnings per share and return metrics.

Commercial real estate lending and mortgages are banks' main source of hope to beat lukewarm expectations for the earnings season that begins Tuesday.

Pacific Continental in Eugene, Ore., has hired the former chief financial of Tower Financial in Indiana as its new CFO.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including ideas about how to improve disclosure requirements and ways to encourage banks and young tech firms to join forces.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.