Already a leading provider of banking services to homeowners' associations on the West Coast, Union Bank in San Francisco has struck a deal to take the niche business nationwide.

In their path-breaking 2009 book "This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly" economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff conclude it never is.

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles is attempting a hostile takeover just days after unseating Umpqua Holdings to buy American Perspective Bank. Industry observers say the company's newfound buying aggression might make it a better seller someday and give its PE investors a tidy exit.

Hilltop Holdings announced Wednesday that it is buying PlainsCapital of Dallas for roughly $520 million in cash and stock.

PacWest Bancorp has been busy in the past week, usurping another bank's offer for American Perspective Bank and launching a hostile bid for First California. There have been a handful of similar bids in the past decade or so, though few have succeeded.

PacWest Bancorp (PACW) in Los Angeles is dead serious about expanding its California footprint through acquisitions.

Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s first quarter earnings fell 20.5% reflecting mainly higher bad debt expenses, despite an estimated 2% rise in revenues.

The bank, led by ex-Sovereign chief Jay Sidhu, cited uncertain market conditions.

Sun CEO Tom Geisel says hiring teams of bankers from rivals and opening new offices will allow Sun to thrive once it purges an existing portfolio of nonperforming real estate loans.

First BanCorp in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is bringing its credit card portfolio back in-house.

A tiny merger in Maine could prove a test case for a type of deal that risk-averse acquirers have been struggling to pull off.

Two Maryland banking companies that announced plans to merge last month need a little more time to work out the specifics of their deal.

Debt buyer Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc., Norfolk, Va., reported total revenues for the first quarter ended March 31 of $140.1 million, up 25% from the year-ago period.

Mike Slocum, head of Capital One's growing commercial and specialty lending operations, has helped the bank diversify by financing some very niche industries.

A breakdown of M&A announcements for the last week

Six months ago Alliance Bankshares and a merger partner called off a deal they had announced - and Alliance's CEO says the Virginia bank has found a superior alternative.

First Bank of Delaware is set to shut down by the end of the year, the result of a wide-ranging consent order issued that alleged weaknesses in the bank's monitoring of relationships in its e-payment and money services business lines, and poor compliance efforts.

Triumph Bancshares of Germantown, Tenn., has sold 1.35 million shares to investors, raising roughly $12.2 million in fresh funds to help grow its bank.

Top executives at Bank Mutual (BKMU) in Milwaukee told investors Monday that the company is eyeing acquisitions of banks and other financial services firms in its quest to become a “much larger company” in the next few years.

It's accounting — specifically purchase accounting, Gerard Cassidy of RBC Capital Markets says in a Q&A. The problem will persist until the economy and the real estate market improve further, he warns.