First Charter Corp. in Charlotte said Monday that it was delaying the release of its fourth-quarter results until it completes an accounting analysis of both a recent acquisition and the sale of a subsidiary.

BCB Bancorp Inc. in Bayonne, N.J., said its full-year earnings rose 18% from a year earlier, to $5.6 million.

Dime Community Bancshares Inc. in Brooklyn, N.Y., said its fourth-quarter earnings plummeted 34% from a year earlier, to $6 million.

Four years ago Greene County Bancshares Inc. in Greeneville, Tenn., did not have a single branch in Nashville; upon completing its $164 million deal for Civitas BankGroup Inc., it would have $1.2 billion of assets and the No. 9 deposit share in Tennessee's second-largest metropolitan market.

Though SVB Financial Group reported healthy fourth-quarter earnings growth last week, it presented a gloomy outlook for the first quarter.

Chemical Financial Corp. of Midland, Mich., reported Friday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 11% from a year earlier, to $11.2 million.

A common strategy for banks in slow-growing southern states is to buy banks in Florida or Texas, but Iberiabank Corp. in Lafayette, La., prefers markets where there is less competition.

Regulators have hit Silvergate Bank in La Jolla, Calif., with a cease-and-desist order that requires it to make a slew of sweeping changes, including overhauling its management, improving Bank Secrecy Act compliance, and hiking loss reserves.

SVB Financial Group said Thursday that fourth-quarter net income rose 10.9% from a year earlier, to $28.4 million.

A tiny Washington thrift targeting African-Americans has made a deal to open branches in Wal-Mart stores.

Sterling Bancshares Inc. in Houston said it has a deal to buy the $186 million-asset Partners Bank of Texas for $52 million in cash and stock.

Since Westsound Bank in Bremerton, Wash., was founded in 1999, its growth has mirrored that of the state's Kitsap Peninsula; as more people have fled the pricey Seattle market for the more affordable west side of Puget Sound, Westsound's assets have grown an average of 61% a year.

When Central Bancorp Inc. in Somerville, Mass., struck a deal in 2004 to buy out one of its largest investors at an above-market price, fund manager Anton V. Schutz fumed and called on regulators to investigate.

The fourth-largest banking company in Spain has struck its first-ever bank deal in the United States — and it could be scouting for more.

AUSTIN — Three years after entering Texas, MidSouth Bancorp of Lafayette, La., plans to more than double its branch network with a big push in Houston.

A small South Carolina banking company is moving its headquarters from a rural setting to a more urban one to raise its profile with investors.

Coast Financial Holdings Inc. of Bradenton, Fla., said late Wednesday that it has hired the investment bank Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP to help the $676 million-asset company review its strategic options.

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