New York Community Bancorp in Hicksville, which bought the failed Signature Bank last year, slashed its dividend after credit issues led to a surprise quarterly loss. The $116.3 billion-asset company said in a press release that it lost $260 million in the fourth quarter, largely due to a $552 million loan-loss provision. The company cut its dividend by 71%, to 5 cents a share. Net charge-offs totaled $185 million, a

Cadence Bank used proceeds from the sale of its insurance business to more than offset a large securities sale. The $48.9 billion-asset bank, with offices in Tupelo, Miss., and Houston, said in a press release that its fourth-quarter net income was more than double that of a year earlier, at $257 million. Cadence sold its insurance unit in November for $904 million, including a $520 million net gain on sale.

Heritage Financial in Olympia, Wash., reported lower earnings that reflected securities sales and an expense-cutting effort. The $7.2 billion-asset company said in a press release that its fourth-quarter profit fell by 72% from a year earlier, to $6.2 million. The company sold $151.8 million of securities at a $10 million pretax loss, using the proceeds to buy $140.7 million of higher-yielding securities. The remaining proceeds were invested in interest-earning deposits.

Southern California Bancorp in San Diego has agreed to buy California BanCorp in Oakland. The $2.4 billion-asset Southern California said in a press release that it will pay $233.6 million in stock for the $2 billion-asset California BanCorp. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Southern California shareholders will own about 57.1% of the outstanding shares of the combined company, which will remain in San Diego and

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency plans to revoke a rule that limits the amount of time it has to consider a merger application. The agency, which oversees nationally chartered banks, issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to do away with a 1990s rule that requires merger applications to be considered approved on the 15th day following the end of the regulatory comment period.  The OCC also plans

Advia Credit Union in Kalamazoo, Mich., has agreed to buy NorthSide Community Bank in Gurnee, Ill. The $3 billion-asset Advia said in a press release that it expects to buy the $255 million NorthSide in the third quarter. The price wasn’t disclosed. “NorthSide has a very talented team, and we are excited to have them join ours – growing stronger together,” Jeff Fielder, Advia's president and CEO said in the

Bank of Marin in Novato, Calif., continued to purge its balance sheet. The $3.8 billion-asset company said in a press release that it earned just $610,000 in the fourth quarter after it sold $131.9 million of securities at a net pretax loss of $5.9 million. Proceeds were largely directed toward new loan originations and repaying borrowings, which should improve the net interest margin over time. The company sold $82.7 million of securities

Sierra Bancorp in Porterville, Calif., offset the costs of selling securities with proceeds from a sale-leaseback transaction. The $3.7 billion-asset company’s said in a press release that its fourth-quarter earnings fell by 11% from a year earlier, to $6.3 million. Sierra sold $196.7 million of bonds at a $14.5 million loss. Though the sales took place in January, the company decided to absorb the loss during the fourth quarter. Proceeds