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.

HSBC's U.S. bank will transfer roughly $52 billion of residential servicing rights to PHH Corp., which also will absorb two-thirds of its mortgage work force. No money will change hands in the transaction, HSBC said.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Security Bank in North Lauderdale, Fla., on Friday, bringing the total number of failures so far in 2012 to 23.

Cardinal Bankshares, a Floyd, Va., company also alleges in a lawsuit that Henry Logue attempted to sell the company without the board's permission.

Few so-called good bank/bad bank deals have been completed, with regulators or investors serving as key impediments. Bar Harbor Bankshares hopes to become the second acquirer in the past two months to complete such an acquisition.

Ailing Liberty Bank in West Des Moines, Iowa, is selling three more of its branches in its home state as part of an ongoing quest to trim overhead and bolster its capital levels.

Harland Clarke Holdings reported a first-quarter loss of $22.9 million, compared with a profit of $23.4 million a year earlier, because of charges related to its parent company’s merger with MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings.

Five months after terminating its planned merger with one suburban Washington, D.C., bank, Alliance Bancshares in Chantilly, Va., has struck a deal to team up with another.

CenterState Banks (CSFL) in Davenport, Fla., is planning to merge its two subsidiary banks into a single bank as part of its ongoing effort to trim overhead and improve efficiency following its recent string of acquisitions.

The golf tournament has endured a tumultuous decade since Wachovia created the event to put itself on the national stage. Controversial deal negotiations have occurred there, it drew criticism from bank-bailout critics, and its name changed twice after Wells acquired Wachovia.

Continuing its aggressive expansion throughout the Southeast, Renasant Bank in Tupelo, Miss., is opening its first office in east Tennessee.

George Ramirez, the new chief diversity officer at San Francisco's Union Bank, didn't get the memo that people are purely expense items for banks.

Northeast Bancorp (NBN) of Lewiston, Maine, is looking to raise additional capital so it could continue to expand its loan portfolio.

ACI Worldwide announced a first-quarter loss stemming from its February acquisition of the bank technology vendor S1.

Standard & Poor's warned Thursday a further slowdown in the global economy and another knock to market confidence could hasten deleveraging among European banks, a development that could have a significant impact on Asian financial markets.

Customers Bancorp, led by Jay Sidhu, is set to go public. The one-time Sovereign Bank chief and others say he has learned from the past about how to balance internal growth and acquisitions.

If the anticipated wave of merger-and-acquisition activity in the banking industry ever hits, Blackhawk Bancorp in Beloit, Wis., wants to be ready for it.

Demand for these deals has risen in a liquid market, issuers are plentiful — but returns vary.

Electronic payments products are boosting revenue for core providers Fiserv and Jack Henry & Associates.

Atlantic Coast Financial (ACFC) of Jacksonville, Fla., reported a narrower loss in the first quarter than in previous quarters as it reduced its overhead and reiterated that it is still considering selling itself.