First Niagara Financial in Buffalo, N.Y., plans to close 17 branches and two drive-through locations in January.

Congress and banking agencies should seize the opportunity to eliminate unnecessary and outdated requirements.

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., produced strong loan growth and other results in the third quarter that analysts said outshone some of its peers.

Wintrust Financial in Rosemont, Ill., reported third-quarter earnings of $40.2 million, as increases in interest and fee income were partially offset by heavier expenses.

The $1.1 billion-asset Starion did not disclose the terms of its deal for WPS Community, a federally chartered thrift with $98 million in assets.

AmericanWest is buying Bank of Sacramento for $60 million in cash. Although the deal was being negotiated well before the recent market sell-off, it serves as a good example of the comfort of a fixed cash price.

The lackluster earnings season for regional banks continued. Executives at Fifth Third and BB&T shared concerns about margin shrinkage and other forces beyond their control, and they provided contrasts in expense control and management of interest rate uncertainty.

Acquisitions buoyed third-quarter earnings at Home BancShares in Conway, Ark. The $7.2 billion-asset company reported Thursday that it earned $27.4 million, up roughly 49% from a year earlier.

Capital Bank Financial Corp. in Coral Gables, Fla., reported higher third quarter earnings driven by lower expenses and asset quality improvements.

Sandy Spring Bancorp in Olney, Md., posted lower third-quarter earnings as expenses rose and net interest income declined.

Webster Financial in Waterbury, Conn., reported an increase in quarterly profit on the strength of its loan growth.

PrivateBancorp in Chicago reported higher earnings in the third quarter primarily thanks to loan growth.

BB&T in Winston-Salem, N.C., reported higher quarterly earnings despite flat revenue.

Profits at Umpqua Holdings in Portland, Ore., rose in the third quarter, on gains from its recent acquisition of Sterling Financial.

Patriot National Bancorp in Stamford, Conn., will recognize a one-time gain of $16.6 million in third quarter profits, due to the partial reversal of its valuation allowance for deferred tax assets.

Pennant Management, which handles assets for community banks and other clients, disclosed that it could be holding up to $179 million in fake USDA-insured loans. Industry observers said the firm's failure to take certain precautions, along with weaknesses in the secondary market for USDA loans, invited fraud.

A community bank in Massachusetts has opened a branch that's a microcosm of forward-looking trends in retail bank design. Emphasis on the "micro" part.

Westamerica in San Rafael, Calif., reported lower quarterly earnings largely because of a narrower net interest margin.

AmericanWest Bank in Spokane, Wash., has agreed to buy the $468 million-asset Bank of Sacramento in California for $60 million in cash.

TD Bank NA, which lost electronic files containing information for as many as 260,000 customers in 2012, agreed to pay $850,000 to settle a multistate probe into the security breach, New York's attorney general said.