Dean Anason

BB&T said Tuesday that it would pay off holders of BankAtlantic's trust-preferred securities and take an interest in additional assets to rescue the stalled deal.

Breaking News This Morning ...BB&T modifies its agreement to acquire BankAtlantic

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Hold it, They've Got Ideas: A funny thing happened on the way to the Republican presidential debate last night - a candidate actually made a policy proposal. Before all the name-calling, piling on the front-runner du jour and renewed etymological analysis of the word "conservative," Mitt Romney offered a plan to cut personal income taxes on the same day President Obama proposed to cut the corporate tax rate (more on that in a moment). But the Romney tax plan hardly came up in the debate, the Journal reports. In fact, the economy took a backseat to social issues and the latest round of posturing among the candidates vying for the GOP nomination, the Times says.

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.

The next time somebody challenges Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit, he should send them to the dictionary to look up the definition of his name.

The Ithaca, N.Y., bank has been scouting for deals and said Thursday it has agreed to buy VIST Financial in southeastern Pennsylvania for $86 million in stock.

John Keach Jr., the chairman and CEO of Indiana Community Bancorp, which agreed to sell to a rival this week, speaks for many bankers in ticking off the threats to going it alone as a community bank — and explains why his bank decided it had to get out now.

The Evansville, Ind., bank is at it again, agreeing to buy Indiana Community Bancorp. Old National bought the failed Integra Bank last year and later resold some of its branches.

Banks need to increase revenue, and deals are tempting. But shareholders want buybacks and dividends. KeyCorp CEO Beth Mooney discusses the tough calls banks like hers face in the current economic climate.

The university, rocked in recent months by a child sex abuse scandal, has turned to the alum and vice chairman of Bank of New York Mellon to help lead it in a time of crisis.

The Buffalo company is scheduled to close on $1.1 billion of offerings over three days next week to pay for its increasingly problematic deal to buy 195 HSBC branches.

The Fed's approval marks the first time a prepaid card company has been allowed to buy a bank. Fed Gov. Duke objected, warning that the deal was too risky.

The Justice Department on Thursday ordered First Niagara Financial Group to sell 26 of the branches it has agreed to buy from HSBC Holdings. The branches are in the Buffalo area and have $1.6 billion of deposits.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Bailout Redux: While the European bailout plan "set off celebrations" in markets throughout the world, many analysts warned that the plan "remains a work in progress," the Post reported. "Key details are uncertain, they say, and a slowing European economy could throw the program off course." The Journal, like a lot of other media, went full tilt on the European bailout agreement even though - or maybe because - a lot of folks are skeptical it will hold up. Yes, Americans are happy everywhere that their 401(k)s shot up with the market Thursday, but it could take "weeks" for negotiators in Europe to tell us the details of (and to figure out themselves) what they have wrought, the Journal said. Not promising was the warning by a European Central Bank official that the deal's "leverage instruments are similar to those which were among the origins of the crisis, because they temporarily masked the risks." The deal relies on "Byzantine financial engineering," another Journal story said. (A note to Scan's Greek friends: that's not a compliment.) A big push is expected. European officials are going to have to sell sovereign markets on the plan, as sovereign bond markets and others reacted cautiously. Some say the European banks got off too easy, yet others speculated the plan might work despite initial shortcomings if it boosts confidence. The Times said German Chancellor Angela Merkel called bankers' bluff, telling them to take the offer on the table of a 50% write-down in the face value of their Greek bond holdings, or bear the consequences of a default. She was willing to risk a credit event that would have thrown world markets into turmoil, and if that happened, she would blame the banks. Critics say the plan may not deliver as much relief to Greece as promised, and that it may not be sufficient to help troubled banks. "It's another patchwork effort," said Richard Cookson, global chief investment officer of Citi Private Bank. The FT looked at China's role in the rescue, and its demands that other countries be involved and its investment be guaranteed. The article quotes French President Nicolas Sarkozy: "Why would we not accept that the Chinese had confidence in the eurozone and place a part of their surpluses in our funds or our banks. Would you rather they placed it with the US?" Ouch!

Memphis bank's Jordan discusses how he will balance the two roles starting Jan. 1, distinguishes First Horizon's new debit fees from Bank of America's and sets sights on possible deals.

Word that a banking pool had returned its money to investors prompted our assistant managing editor to take a second look at the state of banking. The answers are discomforting.

If you are writer Julia Anne Miller's bank, she left you a message in the October issue of Smithsonian magazine: stop causing my identity crisis.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...No European Vacation: As The Scan was being prepared, German lawmakers approved a bill to expand the euro zone's bailout fund, the Times reported. Finland's parliament did so a day earlier. But talk has already begun on "a more radical increase in the scope of bailouts" and possible debt restructuring for Greece, the Journal said. Debate on that subject is expected to gain more momentum in October, and it could get dicier. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is taking heavy political flak in pushing the current bailout, and a revolt among lawmakers "underscores a broader shift among Germans about their nation's role in Europe since the crisis erupted nearly two years ago." Meanwhile, the European Union detailed its plan for a tax on financial transactions. It would cover all transactions among financial institutions when at least one party is located in the EU, the Journal reported. Financial and business groups are already mounting an attack, the FT reported.

In a circuitous route to his new job at Fifth Third in Richmond, Va., Martin Rust may have cheated death — twice.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Get Ready to Rumble: Morning Scan is brought to you today by two cups of coffee and the letter X, as in the big targets on the backs of several banks that are drawing the aim of Uncle Sam's legal eagles … A.M. radio jockeys couldn't stop blaring a Times report that the Federal Housing Finance Agency will sue more than a dozen big banks, including Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, over the sale of mortgage securities. The story lead the paper and cited unnamed sources. Instead of demanding the banks buy back the original loans, in this lawsuit the agency seeks to be reimbursed for losses on the securities held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Some observers question whether such a lawsuit, when added to the state attorneys general settlement talks, might not push banks over a cliff.