Pacific Mercantile Bancorp (PMBC) has completed a deal that should help the Costa Mesa, Calif., company in an effort to shed troubled loans.

Bharat Masrani, 56, who currently serves as chief executive of its U.S. banking unit, will succeed Ed Clark, 67, as CEO of the parent company when Clark steps down from the post next year, Toronto-Dominion said Wednesday.

TriState Capital Holdings in Pittsburgh has filed to hold an initial public offering.

Small-business loans resulting from a government program jumped by 20% during the fourth quarter, with the Treasury estimating it has helped more than 38,000 total loans since it began nearly two years ago.

Bank deal-making faces a new hurdle as a small group of attorneys challenges a large number of buyout offers. For the lawyers, even dubious challenges can result in big paydays. For potential acquirers, the added costs and hassles are another hurdle on the way to reinvigorating the still-struggling bank M&A market.

Charter Financial (CHFN) in West Point, Ga., has received shareholder approval to become a fully public firm.

First Mariner Bancorp (FMAR) in Baltimore has revised downward its earnings for the fourth quarter and full year of 2012.

Accounting for utility and car expenses would help lenders make better loan decisions, encourage homebuyers to select affordable houses and support a more sustainable housing market.

BancVue in Austin, Texas, has acquired a business to expand its leasing capabilities.

Industry observers are hopeful that CEOs will use quarterly conference calls to outline plans to aggressively unload bad assets in coming months.

Bank of America and the National Credit Union Administration reached a $165 million accord to cover losses on purchases of residential mortgage- backed securities by credit unions that failed, the agency said.

CorTrust Bank in Mitchell, S.D., recently bought a bank near Minneapolis and plans to do more deals there. It, like a lot of community banks, is trying to expand into new markets without repeating the precrisis mistakes that doomed many of its peers.

Customers Bancorp (CUUU), led by Chairman and Chief Executive Jay Sidhu, has applied with the Federal Reserve Board to open an office at 99 Park Avenue in Manhattan.

GulfShore Bancshares in Tampa, Fla., has raised $6 million by selling stock, intending to use the proceeds to fund its bank's growth and fuel lending to local professionals and businesses.

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Salisbury Bancorp (SAL) in Lakeville, Conn., has found a chief financial officer.

The $558 million-asset company said Monday that it would use proceeds from the sale to retire its senior debt and support its balance sheet.

Howard Bancorp (HBMD) in Ellicott City, Md., is buying a branch from Cecil Bancorp (CECB) in Elkton, Md.

Fewer bank deals were struck in the first quarter compared with a year earlier and the fourth quarter, despite increasing optimism about consolidation and the economy.

A unit of EverBank Financial (EVER) has sold more than $300 million in mortgage-backed securities.