Robert Barba

The break up with JTH Tax comes months after Kentucky's Republic Bancorp agreed to end its refund-anticipation loan program as part of a settlement with the FDIC.

NHB Holdings in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, has raised $7.6 million in fresh capital.

Gulf Coast bankers say they were better prepared to handle the onslaught of Hurricane Isaac, which slammed into Louisiana on Wednesday. Bankers are better prepared seven years after Katrina battered the Gulf Coast, learning how to run their banks remotely and keeping plenty of cash on hand.

The FDIC is appealing a ruling that barred it from pursuing simple negligence claims against officers and directors of a failed bank. If the agency loses, it could have a difficult time replenishing the Deposit Insurance Fund.

Dealmakers have been pushing bankruptcy recapitalizations for a few years. The time may now be ripe with credit quality improving while debt loads linger.

It took the Denver company nearly a year to complete its purchase of a rival twice its size. The deal, which required raising capital to buffer against the seller's credit issues and complete a Tarp repayment, illustrates the difficulty of making small but ambitious acquisitions.

Beltway politics is hurting bank M&A, consumer confidence — but it's also time for bankers to stop opposing Dodd-Frank, says the former Obama chief of staff.

Lawmakers have set $10 billion in assets as a dividing line between small and large banks for regulatory purposes. That's left bankers at Trustmark's Gerard Host and other institutions that are approaching the cutoff with a choice: Deliberately limit their size or pursue acquisitions to solidly cross the threshold.

The Lansing, Mich., company has turned to court to try and recapitalize itself. The move would leave all existing stakeholders with a 53% equity stake in the company. Capitol, meanwhile, is still searching for an investor to take the other 47%.

The agency used a cross-guaranty liability agreement to receive 85% of the proceeds from a Kansas Bank's sale to Arvest Bank in Arkansas. The deal is notable to companies with multiple banks, particularly those that are undercapitalized.

The Columbia, S.C., company is used to gaining branches and other assets in past deals. Buying Savannah Bancorp adds an investment advisory firm and mortgage capabilities at a time when banks are looking everywhere for ways to boost fees.

Porter Bancorp (PBIB) in Louisville, Ky., is back in the red after posting a profit in the first quarter.

Consultants and others offer these tips on avoiding being duped by fraudulent advisors.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. urged bank CEOs to watch out for middlemen seeking upfront fees to connect them with capital because, it says, many are frauds. The alert should have come sooner, some industry officials say.

UMB Financial in Kansas City, Mo., is succeeding in growing loans, but it is problems are picking up, too.

The Illinois company spent three years trying to keep its Kansas and Florida banks from failing. The company, which has other banks, is not off the hook yet because the FDIC could charge it for the cost of the failures.

Two banks owned by Mercantile Bancorp in Quincy, Ill., were among five failures on Friday, one of the busiest nights for closures in recent weeks.

The California company received the FDIC's blessing to sell 11 loans covered by loss-sharing arrangements. Industry observers believe more sales could take place now that this deal has been cleared to take place.

Virginia Commerce Bancorp (VCBI) is delaying its planned exit from the Troubled Asset Relief Program following discussions with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond regarding its repayment plan.

The Federal Reserve Board has put the kibosh on Virginia Commerce Bancorp's plan to start paying back the Treasury Department this summer.