Armed with more money and less baggage, private-equity funds are staking their claims in the Southeast banking market, changing the landscape of failed-bank dealmaking as they go.

Communities across the U.S. are experimenting with local currencies, a concept that gains popularity in times of economic anxiety and distrust of financial institutions.

North American Financial Holdings, a group formed by former Bank of America Vice Chairman Eugene Taylor, sealed deals to buy 3 failed banks in the Southeast late Friday.

Webster Financial Corp. in Waterbury, Conn., on Friday said second-quarter earnings declined 24.2% from a year earlier. The $17.7 billion-asset company had net income of $12.7 million for the quarter, dropping from $16.8 million.

Second-quarter earnings at Ohio Valley Banc Corp. in Gallipolis, Ohio, rose 5.4% from a year earlier to $1.47 million. The $823.7 million-asset company said Thursday the quarterly earnings were driven by an increase in average-earning assets and net interest margin. For the first half, Ohio Valley's net income dropped 2% year over year to $3.3 million.

After raising $172.9 million of capital in nine months, West Coast Bancorp said regulators have terminated the cease-and-desist order under which it had been operating.

It was one of the busier weeks for dealmaking this side of the economic collapse. And though analysts say it might be too early to call it a breakthrough for open-bank deals, it is certainly a start.

North American Financial Holdings Inc., a group formed in December by former Bank of America Corp. Vice Chairman Eugene Taylor, sealed deals to buy three failed institutions in the Southeast late Friday.

The $3.6 billion-asset company will acquire all six of the Bank of Currituck's branches in northeastern North Carolina, including three in the Outer Banks. It will pick up $173 million in assets, including $96 million in performing loans, as well as $173 million in deposits.

Florida Bank Group Inc. said Thursday that it has agreed to acquire Anderen Financial Inc. The $843 million-asset parent company of Florida Bank will acquire Anderen, of Palm Harbor, Fla., with $150 million of assets, and its subsidiary, Anderen Bank, in an all-stock transaction.

Its keys to success have been an adherence to a strategy of courting customers disenchanted with their current bank, and the willingness to adapt to the changed banking landscape.

People's United Financial in Bridgeport, Conn., is on a shopping spree up and down the Northeast. The $22 billion-asset company announced late Thursday that it reached agreements to buy Smithtown Bancorp in Hauppauge, N.Y. and LSB Corp. in North Andover, Mass. Both are contiguous to People's United's existing market.

Republic Bancorp Inc. reported a 22% jump in second-quarter net income compared with a year earlier, and growth in its tax-refund business generated more than half its earnings, the company announced Thursday.

Suffolk Bancorp in Riverhead, N.Y., reported Thursday that second-quarter earnings fell 16% from a year earlier, to $4.8 million.

Malaga Financial Corp. in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., reported record earnings Thursday for the second quarter and first six months of 2010.

The $95 million-asset Grandpoint Capital Inc. in Los Angeles said Wednesday that it had signed an agreement to acquire the $336 million-asset First Commerce Bancorp in Encino, Calif.

BancFirst Corp. in Oklahoma City announced Wednesday it is acquiring Union National Bancshares Inc. Through the deal, the $4.5 billion-asset BancFirst will pick up $135 million in assets, including $86 million in loans, from Union National.

The $11.6 billion-asset company announced late Tuesday that it is expecting to record a loan-loss provision of $57 million to $62 million, primarily stemming from credit problems in Florida and worsening credit quality in Louisiana and Texas.

Florida First City Banks Inc. said this week it had suspended an effort to raise up to $14 million after potential investors began backing away. Their reason: Worries about the potential consequences for banks as oil washes up on Panhandle beaches.