Flock Advisors, a financing group to middle market debt buyers and collection agencies, has raised a new round of capital with a group of institutional investors that will expand the company's ability to offer financing solutions for debt portfolio purchases, refinancing and strategic balance sheet reengineering.

Regions Financial has hired a group of Texas bankers away from Wells Fargo.

CenterState will pay $77 million in cash and stock for Gulfstream, which focuses on small businesses and medical practices.

Quarterly profit at Heartland Financial (HTLF) in Dubuque, Iowa, slipped by 31% from a year earlier as costs rose and gains from loan sales fell.

Synovus Financial, which endured a drubbing from the economy while overcoming massive challenges, has a large to-do list if it wants to regain relevance.

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

MainSource Financial Group (MSFG) in Greensburg, Ind., has been cleared to redeem the last of the preferred stock it had issued through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Pacific Commerce Bank in Los Angeles has satisfied enforcement orders imposed by state regulators, but it still has more work to do.

Trustmark in Jackson, Miss., has bought two branches from SOUTHBank in Huntsville, Ala.

WSFS Financial Corp. in Wilmington, Del., has agreed to buy the mortgage banking company Array Financial Group in Haverford, Pa.

HomeStreet in Seattle plans to buy two small Washington lenders for a total of $37.3 million.

Rival bankers who operate in Chicago have been giving their takes — some sarcastic, others serious, yet others cautious — about the competitive effect of MB Financial's deal to buy Taylor Capital.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) plans to sell or spin off its physical commodities unit, as regulatory scrutiny on big banks' commodities holdings and trading operations mounts.

Synovus Financial (SNV) in Columbus, Ga., has redeemed its Troubled Asset Relief Program shares after raising cash in two stock offerings.

U.S. Century Bank in Doral, Fla., has postponed a shareholder vote on a $50 million capital injection.

Investors have been pressuring Hancock Holding (HBHC) in Gulfport, Miss., to speed up cost cuts after its $1.5 billion purchase of Whitney Holding in 2011. Second-quarter results strengthened their case.

Davis and Henderson's planned $1.2 billion acquisition of Harland Financial Solutions will make the Toronto company a significant player in the U.S. financial services technology market virtually overnight.

Some managers of collateralized loan obligations complain that S&P's ratings of risks behind covenant-lite loans are too harsh and could stifle an growing part of the leveraged-loan market.

Normally low-profile PacWest CEO Matt Wagner could get a night gig emceeing roasts or appearing at an L.A. comedy store, a sometimes-lighthearted conference call revealed this week.

Columbia Banking System in Tacoma, Wash., reported higher quarterly earnings.