Pinnacle Financial Partners posted strong fourth-quarter numbers thanks to loan growth centered around its Nashville and Knoxville markets in Tennessee.

Local bankers will try to pick up any business that could fall out as a result of the merger. And with one less bank to buy in Southern California, remaining franchises also may command scarcity value.

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles reported an increase in fourth-quarter profit, the second full quarter after its April acquisition of CapitalSource Bank, a commercial lender that targeted small and medium-sized businesses.

The $8 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday that David Hooston had returned to the company after a three-month leave to attend to personal family issues.

Online marketplace lender OnDeck Capital has launched a new platform to better enable institutional investors to buy small business loans OnDeck originates.

Royal Bank of Canada sold its U.S. retail bank a few years ago to PNC. The company is back with a targeted play: City National, a Los Angeles bank that has built its business targeting the rich and working with Hollywood.

BankUnited in Miami Lakes, Fla., reported a drop in quarterly profits, as low yields weighed down the company's growing loan book and it faced some growth-related costs.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has agreed to buy a pair of nonbanking businesses.

BB&T plans to add more than $20 billion in assets this year through three pending acquisitions. Management, which believes it should have no problem getting its deals approved, has started to improve how it monitors its liquidity capital ratio before new thresholds kick in.

Signature Bank in New York reported higher fourth-quarter profits on growth in commercial loans.

F.N.B. Corp. in Pittsburgh reported higher quarterly earnings due to loan growth and improved asset quality.

Webster Financial in Waterbury, Conn., posted higher profits in the fourth quarter, propelled by strong loan demand.

Royal Bank of Canada is ready to take another shot at U.S. banking, agreeing to buy City National in Los Angeles.

The $794 million-asset Kentucky Bancshares will pay $7.2 million, or $32.50 a share, in stock for the $121 million-asset Madison.

Five Star Bank is the latest financial institution to settle claims that it avoided lending to minorities. More redlining cases can be expected, industry experts say.

Stephen Platt, a forensic investigations consultant and author of Criminal Capital: How the Finance Industry Facilitates Crime, explains why bank directors' fear of revealing their ignorance is dangerous for financial institutions.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., reported higher quarterly profit because of loan growth and higher fee revenue.

Saco & Biddeford Savings in Saco, Maine, has a new president.

Cathay General Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy Asia Bancshares in New York.

Fulton Financial in Lancaster, Pa., reported lower quarterly earnings that reflected the costs of complying with a regulatory order.