Columbia Banking System in Tacoma, Wash., reported higher quarterly earnings.

The former First PacTrust has hired ex-L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as a senior advisor and made Magic Johnson Enterprises executive Eric Holoman a director and head of its new community reinvestment panel.

Accounts Receivable Management industry transactions in the first half of the year reflect a trend of U.S. groups expanding internationally, according to a mergers-and-acquisitions report from Greenberg Advisors.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Pittsfield, Mass., is planning a comprehensive review designed to reduce core operating costs.

New York Private Bank & Trust, the parent company of Emigrant Bank, has fully repaid its Troubled Asset Relief Program funds.

Porter Bancorp in Louisville is poised to make John Taylor its chief executive after the sudden retirement of Maria Bouvette. The move could improve its changes of attracting new investors to recapitalize it.

BankUnited (BKU) in Miami Lakes, Fla., added interest income and beat earnings estimates as it expanded into New York City last quarter.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Pittsfield, Mass., and Community Bank System in DeWitt, N.Y., have struck deals to buy branches from Bank of America.

Trustmark in Jackson, Miss., says it is starting to realize the benefits of its acquisition of BancTrust Financial Group.

German American Bancorp in Jasper, Ind., has agreed to buy United Commerce Bancorp in Bloomington, Ind.

Executives of PacWest had become frustrated with the shortcomings of traditional, deposit-heavy banks when seeking M&A targets. They reached instead for the prospect of loan growth provided by commercial financier CapitalSource.

In a move that will give D+H deeper roots in the U.S. and a broader product set, the Canadian company announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire Harland Financial Solutions.

Providing financing to solar farms is 'socially responsible' and a good way to expand in leveraged loans, its CEO says. Its in-house experts came via an acquisition.

Bank analyst Brian Foran poked fun at his own job-hopping during a regional bank's second-quarter earnings call.

MB Financial was eager to buy Taylor Capital because of its commercial lending prowess, not its mortgage unit. However, private-equity firms are said to be in talks to buy the unit.

Carlyle Group is selling off the last of its stake in Boston Private Financial Holdings (BPFH).

FirstMerit (FMER) in Akron, Ohio, reported higher second-quarter profit after completing its acquisition of Citizens Republic Bancorp.

PacWest has agreed to buy CapitalSource for $2.3 billion, a transaction that would fulfill CapitalSource's longtime goal of becoming a full-fledged bank. It is the year's biggest bank deal.

Hancock Holding (HBHC) has agreed to sell 10 Whitney Bank branches that the Gulfport, Miss., company had planned to close, as well as loans and deposits associated with the branches.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended July 20.