As of Friday, Wells Fargo & Co. is the nation’s most valuable bank, with a market cap of $75.9 billion, the San Francisco Business Times reported. In New York Stock Exchange trading, Wells moved slightly ahead of JPMorgan Chase & Co., which is now worth $75 billion, according to a Bloomberg News report noting Wells Fargo’s standing. After Wells acquires Wachovia Corp., it will have the nation’s largest branch network; however, Chase, which recently purchased failed Washington Mutual Inc., remains the nation’s largest bank by assets.

Wells Fargo & Co. announced today that it will donate $250,000 to Embrace Iowa: 2008 Iowa Disaster Fund. The donation is in addition to the $100,000 the company donated to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund in June to help meet immediate flood-related needs in Iowa and Wisconsin.

U.S. Bancorp took over Downey Savings and Loan Association F.A., the 10th-largest bank in Silicon Valley, and PFF Bank & Trust late on Friday, the Daytona Business Journal reported. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) handled the deal, ensuring that both banks – and their combined 213 branches statewide – will reopen as U.S. Bank. Customer deposits will automatically transfer to U.S. Bank, the bank owned by Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, and accounts will be insured by the FDIC. Downey Savings had $1.26 billion in deposits in Southern California as of June 30.

Marketlink Inc. announced Friday that it is expanding its calling capacity by 8 percent to meet increased customer demand for its outbound telemarketing services. The company said the expansion will provide at least 20 new jobs at one of the firm’s Des Moines call centers. In total, the company has three call centers in Des Moines, as well as one in Storm Lake and in Fairmont, Minn.

The Greater Des Moines Partnership is hosting a seminar titled “Solutions for Export Collections: Getting Paid for Export Sales During the Credit Crunch” on Tuesday from 8:30 until 11 a.m. at the Arthur Davis Conference Center, 700 Locust St., Suite 100. The seminar will cover collection problems Iowa exporters and banks are experiencing, challenges international buyers are having with letters of credit, and ways for Iowa exporters to get paid timely and in full. The cost is $10 per person and registration can be done online at www.desmoinesmetro.com/events.

USA Today plans to cut about 5 percent of its newsroom jobs – about 20 employees – early next month, Ken Paulson, editor of the nation’s largest newspaper, told the staff in a memo Sunday evening. The newsroom, which currently employs about 450 people, experienced a staff reduction last November when 45 positions were eliminated. The paper’s parent company, Gannett Co. Inc., has already implemented two rounds of layoffs this year.