Robert Barba

State regulators closed three banks along the East Coast late Friday afternoon: Blue Ridge Savings Bank in Asheville, N.C.; Piedmont Community Bank in Gray, Ga.; and First State Bank in Cranford, N.J.

FJ Capital Management said Thursday that it had received a "significant investment" by Bridge Equities LLC.

HUD is seeking comments on a proposed rule that would allow Farm Credit System lenders the ability to make FHA-backed loans. Since Farm Credit is already a GSE, bankers oppose the proposed rule.

So 10 lawyers and an investment banker got together in a room at AmericanWest … No, it's not a joke. They helped revitalize a troubled bank and now have an award from the Turnaround Management Association to prove it.

Sabal Financial Group L.P. of Newport Beach, Calif., has acquired a $153 million portfolio of loans located in some of the hardest hit regions of the United States.

Patriot Financial has money to invest, but before community bank executives pick up the phone to request a meeting they should know what the private-equity firm wants and doesn't want.

The ailing Central Progressive Bank in Lacombe, La., may have found its savior on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain.

ECB Bancorp is set to receive nearly $80 million in capital by mid-November. The $942 million-asset company is laying out a three-pronged strategy of acquisitions, de novo branch expansion and organic growth to get to $3 billion to $5 billion in the next few years.

Ambitious Opus Bank announced Monday that it has signed lease agreements to open five new branches in California and Washington.

State regulators closed a bank on each coast Friday, bringing the failure tally this year to 73.

The acquisition of a small Dallas-area bank has been called off because the buyer was unable to raise enough capital to complete the deal.

First National was looking to sell – for the second time. Kevin Fowler, whose return to banking as president of Rockwall Bancshares followed a failed bid for office, was looking to enter the Dallas market. A match was made.

Wintrust Financial in Illinois is tired of hiding behind numerous brand names. The $15 billion-asset company has launched an advertising campaign to aggressively introduce the Wintrust brand in Chicago.

A group of bankers have banded together to buy First National Bank of Chillicothe in Texas and will use it to open a branch just outside of Dallas.

The former Investors Savings Bank in Short Hills, N.J., has shortened its name to Investors Bank to better reflect its increasing commercial focus.

First M&F Corp. in Kosciusko, Miss., is looking to shed six branches, or roughly 14% of its offices.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans to close its temporary suburban Chicago office next September, nine months earlier than expected.

Simone Lagomarsino reflects on the divisive debate on whether credit unions should be allowed to raise capital. Backers view such a move as a necessity for struggling credit unions, while detractors worry that it could cost the industry its tax-exempt status.

Simone Lagomarsino took the helm of Heritage Oaks in Paso Robles, Calif., on Monday. The veteran banker has a long track record of selling banks, but says she is here to build value.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed First National Bank of Florida, in Milton, on Friday.