First Republic Bank in San Francisco has agreed to buy Luminous Capital Holdings. Luminous, an independent wealth advisor based in Los Angeles, provides investment advice and asset allocation, including alternative investments, to high-net-worth individuals, family offices and foundations.

Fewer loan losses and added fees provided a spark to third-quarter results at Park Sterling (PSTB) in Charlotte, N.C.

CertusBank in Greenville, S.C., plans acquire the small business lending operations of a struggling Georgia bank.

BB&T's decision to open 30 branches makes sense as big banks battle for commercial customers, especially in an expensive market for acquisitions like Texas.

Oriental Financial Group in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has priced its public offering of preferred shares that will help fund its purchase of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria's Puerto Rican operations.

Banks in areas hit hard by Hurricane Sandy have re-opened most of their branches. Now some of them are opening their checkbooks, too.

Portfolio Recovery Associates, a Norfolk, Va.-based debt buyer, reported strong results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, including increases in cash collections, net income and revenue.

First BanCorp in San Juan, Puerto Rico, reported its second straight quarterly profit. The company earned $19.1 million in the third quarter, compared with a net loss of $24 million a year earlier.

BB&T is planning to more than double its branch network in Texas by opening 30 new offices in the state’s four largest metropolitan markets.

The National Credit Union Administration has liquidated Women's Southwest Federal Credit Union in Dallas.

National 1st Credit Union has agreed to acquire San Jose Credit Union.

More small banks with good credit quality are seeking buyers because their growth prospects are dim.

Two community banks — Central Bancorp in Somerville, Mass., and U.S. Century Bank in Doral, Fla. — delayed shareholder votes on pending deals, blaming complications from Hurricane Sandy.

CEO Scott Kisting says the Spokane, Wash., which recently agreed to buy the $1.2 billion-asset PremierWest, realizes the value of scale. AmericanWest will still look at banks of different sizes, but it now prefers bigger deals.

Ally Financial said Wednesday that it has repaid $2.9 billion of debt issued under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended Oct. 27

First National Bank has agreed to buy City National Bancshares in a deal between Nebraska banks.

JPMorgan Chase sued the executive responsible for supervising Bruno Iksil, the trader nicknamed the London Whale for market-moving wagers at the division responsible for a $6.2 billion trading loss.

Demand for loans and fewer credit losses narrowed losses at Hampton Roads Bankshares (HMPR) in Norfolk, Va. in the third quarter.

EMC (EMC) has agreed to buy Silver Tail Systems, a privately held company that helps clients fend off fraudsters and Web-based attackers.