First Financial Service has agreed to sell four of its branches in Indiana as the Elizabethtown, Ky., company works to increase its capital ratios to meet a consent order.

ECB Bancorp Inc.'s plan to raise $80 million from private-equity groups and institutional investors has been put hold because regulators have yet to approve the pact.

The gap between healthy banks and those that remain in the doldrums will fuel acquisition activity in the coming years, a Virginia investment management firm predicts.

Capital One Financial Corp.'s agreement to buy ING Direct USA is on track to close this quarter even though the Federal Reserve Board delayed consideration Wednesday, Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Fairbank said.

With numerous attractive institutions and robust growth markets, the state could kickstart a round of traditional deals nationwide. The only problem? Texas bankers also know they're attractive, and the most comely banks aren't interested in low-priced dates.

Failure has been the most common way out of enforcement actions in the current cycle, but outcomes may be improving.

The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday unexpectedly postponed its meeting to discuss Capital One Financial Corp.'s $9 billion deal for ING Direct USA until next week.

Investors in Washington Mutual Inc.'s trust-preferred securities and die-hard litigants pursuing cases stemming from the largest collapse in U.S. banking history are readying for a last-ditch fight against the company's $7 billion Chapter 11 plan.

NEW YORK — The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said it sold $6.2 billion in risky residential mortgage securities to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in its second bulk sale from a portfolio taken on during the 2008 bailout of American International Group.

Synovus Financial Corporation's announcement Tuesday that it intends to issue new debt to pay off old debt has prompted one analyst to downgrade its stock.

In an improving economy, many of the policies and procedures that were imposed on banks in 2008 have become counterproductive, and are hurting rather than helping the industry.

Ally Financial's Residential Capital mortgage unit is in talks with potential buyers and is considering using a pre-packaged bankruptcy to facilitate a sale, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

BBCN Bancorp, the Los Angeles company formed after Center Financial and Nara Bancorp merged, said Wednesday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 42% from the same period a year earlier due primarily to expenses related to the merger.

More than eight months after Sterne Agee Group Inc. announced that it is planning to acquire a community bank, the name of the bank has finally been revealed: Citizens Exchange Bank.

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Good luck deciphering the arcane debt-related announcements that Synovus served up Tuesday. To translate: the company bought itself some time as it faces a series of tough decisions, including whether to sell itself or not.

Sterling Savings Bank in Spokane, Wash., is dropping the "Savings" from its name to reflect its transition from a traditional thrift to commercial-oriented bank.

A settlement between NCO Financial Systems and 19 states will result in the company paying up to $1.5 million in restitution to the various state's AG offices and consumers.

Suffolk Bancorp in Riverhead, N.Y., has filled its vacant chief financial officer position by hiring from a former competitor.

F&M Bank, of Iowa, would get 2 branches in Galeburg, Ill., with $66 million of deposits.