Bloomberg reported that Bank of America may reduce annual costs by as much as an additional $3 billion in the next stage of chief executive officer Brian T. Moynihan’s efficiency plan.

Onset Financial said it has provided $5.3 million in funding in separate deals with a West Coast convenience store chain, a nonprofit hospital and an injection mold equipment company.

The Bond Buyer reported that a recently released report based on an audit of bond deals responsible for driving Harrisburg into insolvency has prompted a request for a federal investigation into the transactions.

Fifth Street Finance commenced a public offering of ten million shares of its common stock. Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets will act as joint bookrunning managers for the offering.

Hercules Technology Growth Capital has priced its public offering of five million shares of common stock. Hercules has granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 750,000 shares of common stock. Citigroup is the sole underwriter of this offering.

The proposed annual stress tests of the largest U.S. banks may not be very useful for CFOs trying to assess the health of financial institution, reported CFO staff writer Vincent Ryan.

The University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce released the results of a study examining bankruptcy and recovery among private equity firms.

ZestCash has closed a $73 million round of funding. The company raised a $50 million line of debt financing from Victory Park Capital and raised $23 million in an equity round led by Matrix Partners.

CFO.com writer Vincent Ryan reported a large refinancing wave in the final quarter of 2011 led to an 80% jump in revolving lines of credit issued last year spurred by uncertainty in the banking industry and concerns over the crisis in Europe.

Bloomberg reported that Sears advanced in New York trading following a report that CIT will approve financing for the retailer’s vendors.