Increased mortgage banking revenue helped lift first-quarter profit at Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) of Portland, Ore.

Two New England banking companies are getting closer to requiring their directors to stand for election yearly.

Annapolis Bancorp (ANNB) has repaid half of the $8.2 million it owed the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

S.Y. Bancorp (SYBT) in Louisville, Ky., posted record earnings in the first quarter even as its loan portfolio is beginning to show some cracks.

New York Community Bancorp Inc. on Wednesday posted a 76% first-quarter jump in mortgage banking revenue from a year earlier, as the bank saw robust growth in multi-family and commercial real estate loans.

PacWest Bancorp of Los Angeles said Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings fell 50% from a year earlier, to $5.3 million, due to largely to costs related to prepaying $225 million of fixed-rate term Federal Home Loan Bank advances.

A surge in mortgage lending powered Cardinal Financial (CFNL) in McLean, Va., to a $7.7 million profit in the first quarter, an increase of nearly 47% from the same period in 2011.

A proxy battle at First Financial Northwest has gotten nasty after an activist investor labeled the company's leaders as "idiots" who are "deficient in judgment or lacking in character."

The pace of bank failures will slow considerably this year as the industry continues to recover from the real estate bust, according to the acting head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Banks are clamoring to lend to the most creditworthy small businesses, even as credit availability remains broadly limited.

Cathay General Bancorp of Los Angeles reported first-quarter earnings of $24.8 million, up roughly 38% from a year earlier, as credit quality improved

We are in danger of a harmful proposal, which could be implemented this week. The proposal by the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service would require all banks located within the United States to report interest payments made to nonresident alien depositors. The IRS in turn would exchange this information with foreign governments for data about Americans in those countries.

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Fulton Financial (FULT) in Lancaster, Pa., said Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings climbed nearly 13% from the same period last year, to $38.1 million, as strong refinancing activity, improved asset quality and sharply lower funding costs more than offset sluggish commercial loan growth.

In a complex move, BNC Bancorp (BNCN) in High Point, N.C., is seeking to change its private equity partner's ownership position in order to boost its capital levels.

BNC Financial Group of New Canaan, Conn., has hired former NewAlliance Bancshares Chief Executive Peyton R. Patterson as its new CEO.

Pioneer Bank in Dripping Springs, Texas, has struck its first-ever acquisition, announcing Tuesday that it is buying the $28 million-asset Colorado Valley Bank in LaGrange.

Some analysts believe the time is ripe for second-step conversions by mutual holding companies. Still, some bankers believe the floodgates will remain closed until regulators decide to let MHCs pay a special dividend before converting.

In first speech as comptroller, Curry touts the benefits of the national charter for community banks and thrifts as more consider flipping to state charters.

Westamerica Bancorporation (WABC) in San Rafael, Calif., said Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings fell 6.2%, to $21.8 million, from the same period in 2011 as the company intentionally curtailed its lending in response to persistently low interest rates and fierce competition for quality loans.