Shares of the thinly traded First California Financial Group Inc. soared Friday after it was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the wealthy owners of the Minnesota Twins baseball club have acquired a large stake in the banking company and are pushing for its sale.

New data show that banks that sold large sales to dispose of nonperforming assets have seen stock price gains that surpass other banking companies. The approach still has a fair share of opponents who prefer to work out the assets over time.

MetLife Home Loans was profitable and gaining market share. But the risk of having to repurchase soured loans likely fazed prospective buyers.

PremierWest Bank in Medford, Ore., said Friday that it will close one-fourth of its branches to lower expenses as it struggles to return to profitability after more than three years of losses.

BankAtlantic Bancorp's deal to sell the bulk of its assets to BB&T Corp. has come under attack from yet another BantAtlantic investor: Wells Fargo.

Dutch financial services company ING Group said Friday that it may have to sell more assets to repay state aid, as it grapples to meet stricter banking rules and protect itself against choppy markets.

Bank of America has told regulators that it is willing to retreat from some parts of the country if its financial problems deepen, according to people familiar with the situation.

Private equity's impact on job creation has come to forefront over the last week of the Republican presidential candidate primaries, as critics took aim at Mitt Romney's Bain Capital career.

IberiaBank Corp. in Lafayette, La., is eyeing expansion in Birmingham and other metropolitan markets in Alabama.

All banks are affected by more stringent regulation, but it is the less-healthy ones that are most likely to throw in the towel because of it.

KeyCorp returns to the M&A trail for first time in years in agreeing to buy 37 branches in western New York. The seller, First Niagara, is still trying to digest what it already has in the works.

Citigroup Inc. appears to have abandoned its plan to sell its consumer lending unit until the economy improves and it can fetch a better price for it, according to Fitch Ratings Inc.

Under orders to divest branches as a condition of its pending deal with HSBC Bank USA, First Niagara Financial Group Inc. in Buffalo announced early Thursday that it is selling more than three-dozen western New York branches to one of its closest competitors.

Washington Mutual on Wednesday moved a step closer to an exit from bankruptcy when a judge rebuffed a bid to hold up confirmation proceedings for the company's $7 billion Chapter 11 plan.

Regions Financial Corp. has entered into a long-awaited agreement to sell Morgan Keegan & Co. and related affiliates to Raymond James Financial Inc. for $930 million.

Kevin Cummings, the CEO at Investors Bancorp, is eager to buy more banks and thrifts as his New Jersey company seeks deposits to fund its growing commercial book.

Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. in Lititz, Pa., said it expects to complete its acquisition of Tower Bancorp in Harrisburg, Pa., on Feb. 17 after securing regulatory approval.

Two small Kansas banks that have been fixtures in their rural communities for decades are planning to merge in a bid to improve efficiency and better contend with increasing compliance costs.

The Accounts Receivable Management (ARM) sector saw a significant jump in transaction value in 2011, according to a report by Greenberg Advisors. Aggregate transaction value totaled $1.54 billion, 27% more than 2010 and 163% greater than 2009.

Three months after putting its "forward" mortgage origination business on the block, MetLife announced Tuesday it had shut the operation down.