Western Liberty Bancorp Inc. in Las Vegas has hired Sandler O'Neil & Partners LP to search for strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, just eight after the special-purpose acquisition company completed its first bank acquisition.

A federal court banned three men and their company from the mortgage modification business and ordered them to pay nearly $19 million for consumer refunds, according to terms of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Porter Bancorp Inc. was able to avoid trouble during the darkest days of the recession, only to show up on its regulator's radar screen as many other banks are recovering.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Construction at the new Lake Trust CU branch is set to begin today with the demolition of the former Fidelity Bank building.

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Police are searching for a Kentucky Employees CU ATM that was stolen from a parking lot early Tuesday morning using a backhoe.

HOUSTON – Cardtronics, the nation’s biggest provider of ATM services and a key credit union partner, said yesterday it has agreed to acquire the ATM subsidiary of Efmark Deployment and its 3,700 cash machines in the Midwest and Great Lakes region, doubling its ATM placements in multiple states.

The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that it had approved the sale of Centra Financial Holdings Inc. in Morganton, W.Va., to United Bankshares Inc. in Charleston, W.Va.

VSoft Corp. said Tuesday that Park Community Credit Union would use its technology for item capture in its branches.

Provident Financial Holdings Inc. in Riverside, Calif., is back in good standing with its regulator.

A California community bank will be among first financial institutions to participate in the government's $30 billion small-business loan program.

Stacy L. Moran has resigned as chief financial officer at Suffolk Bancorp, just weeks after the Riverhead, N.Y., company announced that it may have to restate earnings for several quarters.

The $14 billion-asset Susquehanna said late Monday that it would pay $343 million for the $2.6 billion-asset Tower.

FALL RIVER, Mass. – St. Anne's CU opened its first full-service branch in New Bedford last week.

Provident Bank in Montebello, N.Y., announced Monday that longtime President and Chief Executive Officer George Strayton is retiring and that its board has hired former KeyCorp executive Jack Kopnisky to succeed him.

Shares of Hanmi Financial Corp. fell sharply Monday on news that the Los Angeles company is planning to raise roughly $75 million by selling shares of its common stock.

Now that its private-equity injection is almost a done deal, First BanCorp's natural next move would be to consolidate power in Puerto Rico. Unless it sells itself instead.

PBI Bank in Louisville, Ky., has announced that it expects to enter into a consent agreement with state and federal regulators that will require it reduce its loan concentrations, improve its asset quality and maintain capital levels above regulatory minimums.

Wisconsin credit unions are urging Gov. Scott Walker to strike a provision from the state's budget that would allow state-chartered credit unions to more easily convert to banks.

The National Credit Union Administration is suing JPMorgan Chase and RBS Securities, claiming fraud in the sale of billions of dollars in private label, mortgage-backed securities.

New car sales are finally on a rising trend line. Despite production delays at some automakers – in some cases Tsunami-related – year-over-year sales figures are heading upward, in some cases by double digits.