Improved asset quality and upticks in its commercial and mortgage lending helped Taylor Capital Group Inc. in Chicago narrow its loss in the second quarter.

Dodd-Frank missed the mark on the two areas most critical to avoiding a future meltdown. The job of identifying systemic risks was left to an unwieldy committee, and financial regulators remain about as balkanized as the intelligence agencies.

Steel man Frank Williams Jr. aims to become a winner in the bank consolidation game by capitalizing on Great Atlantic Financial's losses.

Community Trust Bancorp Inc. in Pikeville, Ky., said Wednesday that second-quarter earnings rose 4.9% from a year earlier, to $9 million, on higher net interest and noninterest income.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department announced a new round of investments Wednesday as part of a program to encourage community banks to make small business loans.

Victory Bancorp in Limerick, Pa., said Wednesday that it raised $2.6 million in capital. The company sold convertible preferred securities with a 7% coupon.

Renasant Corp. in Tupelo, Miss., said late Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings jumped 51.7% from a year earlier, to $5.8 million, due to a wider net interest margin and a decline in its loan-loss provision.

Virginia Commerce Bancorp Inc. surpassed expectations for the second quarter due to a "substantial decrease" in its loan-loss provision and a sizeable increase in noninterest income.

John Kanas released a statement on Tuesday re-asserting that BankUnited Inc.'s planned acquisition of Herald National Bank jibes with his noncompete provisions with Capital One Bank.

Fulton Financial Corp. in Lancaster, Pa., said Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings rose nearly 15% from the same period last year, to $36. 4 million.

Elizabeth Warren has spent much of the past year arguing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is not as scary as banks think. But as she steps aside, will that really be the case?

Northern Trust Corp. in Chicago has promoted Chief Financial Officer William L. Morrison to president and chief operating officer and has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch veteran Michael G. O'Grady to be the new CFO.

With loan demand still weak in most of its markets, Westamerica Bancorporation in San Rafael, Calif., said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit fell by nearly 10% from the same period last year, to $21.3 million.

Floating loans to movie producers and rock stars may not be the banking industry's cure-all. But for a pair of banks, the entertainment business has provided a well-timed safe harbor.

The early read on M&A this earnings season: A weak economy and job market are putting a damper on deals, even as lending and revenue tick up.

AmeriServ Financial Inc. in Johnstown, Pa., said that its second-quarter earnings increased by more than 300%, to $1.9 million, from the same period last year because it did not have to set aside any funds for loan losses.

Mercantile Bank reported second-quarter earnings of $2.4 million, compared to a reported loss of $700,000 a year earlier, driven largely by a reduction in credit costs.

Jones Bancshares LP agreed to serve as a source of strength to its $405.1 million-asset PrimeSouth Bank in Blackshear, which has been operating under a consent order from the Federal Deposit Insurancce Corp. since Jan. 31.

First Financial Holdings Inc. in Charleston, S.C., is looking to unload $155 million of mostly troubled real estate loans by the end of 2011.

First BanCorp in San Juan, P.R., has increased the maximum amount of its planned capital raise from $550 million to more than $562 million.