Westamerica (WABC) in San Rafael, Calif., reported that its second-quarter earnings fell slightly after loans and fee income declined.

The central bank has brought back a process scrapped in the late 1990s, where it will review preliminary merger plans of untested buyers pursuing unusual deals.

Directors and officers liability coverage is an unpopular topic of conversation at board meetings. But directors who shirk their responsibilities in this area may one day find their claims denied.

A pair of Orrstown Financial Services (ORRF) executives quit just two months after the Shippensburg, Pa., company's chief financial officer resigned.

St. Helen's Community FCU hired a new CEO who immediately urged the board to terminate a merger agreement with nearby Wauna FCU, which would have created a $300 million credit union.

Citigroup, the third-biggest U.S. bank, reported a 12 percent drop in second-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates on revenue from advising on mergers and underwriting stocks and bonds.

Pulaski Bank has filed a lawsuit against three former employees over mortgage data that the Creve Couer, Mo., bank claims the employees took and are using to give their new employer a leg up.

Regulators late Friday seized the $24.8 million-asset Glasgow Savings Bank in Glasgow, Mo.

Uncertainty about the global economy, health care and taxes threaten to take already anemic loan growth off of life support.

The San Francisco company has the cash and willingness to buy more assets from U.S. and European financial institutions, management said during a conference call Friday.

Taylor Capital Group (TAYC) in Rosemont, Ill., said that its bank has hired a former team from LaSalle National Leasing to run a new equipment finance division.

Earnings at Webster Financial (WBS) grew more than 21% in the second quarter from a year earlier, as the Waterbury, Conn., company managed to add loans and transaction deposits.

Prevail CU and Harborstone CU of Tacoma announced plans to combine this afternoon to create another $1 billion credit union, the state's sixth.

The Federal Reserve Board has lifted a written agreement with Tower Financial that required the Fort Wayne, Ind., company to improve its lending and credit administration.

Four out of five banks that closed important deals last week did so in four months or less. First PacTrust, which is new to getting M&A approval from regulators, needed 10 months to close one deal and has another pending after more than a year.

The only beneficiary of this well-intended but misguided regulation appears to be a small group of lawyers bringing costly lawsuits.

Solera National Bank is looking to double its loan portfolio in the next year now that it is no longer operating under a consent order from the OCC.

Washington Federal (WAFD) in Seattle reported that its quarterly earnings totaled $35.2 million, up almost 17% from a year earlier despite a drop in net interest income.

When smaller financial institutions, such as credit unions, are inundated with regulations from multiple agencies simultaneously, their ability to meet the needs of members is hampered and services are curtailed.

Banks are allowed to pass on costs related to FDIC premiums, but the agency is warning the industry that expressly designating an 'FDIC fee' has consequences.