Alliance Bancorp Inc. in Broomall, Pa., is planning a second-step conversion, whose proceeds it said would help fund growth.

Nearly 1,200 banks have been hit with an enforcement action made public by federal regulators since the start of 2008, and that number is expected to climb at an accelerated rate.

Though the Dodd-Frank regulatory reform law designed separate rules for large and small institutions, covering everything from capital to stress tests to consumer protection, a consensus is growing that the higher standards for bigger institutions will eventually apply to everyone else.

Everyone is waiting for small business to revive and generate jobs as the job-creation engine of our economy. Don't expect this to happen soon.

The $72 million-asset bank announced late Tuesday that last month it sold $1.7 million, about a quarter of the $6.9 million of nonperforming assets it had at the end of the second quarter. An additional $907,000 of nonperformers are expected to close this month.

The three-year-old Solera National Bancorp Inc. in Lakewood, Colo., has struck its first acquisition deal. The $140 million-asset company announced Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement to buy the Lakewood branch of Liberty Savings Bank, a $1.1 billion-asset thrift in Wilmington, Ohio.

The Securities and Exchange Commission wants information about the credit standards at CVB Financial Corp. in Ontario, Calif. The $6.8 billion-asset company disclosed in its quarterly filing on Monday that it received a subpoena from the SEC on July 26.

The Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union in Harrisburg has deployed mortgage software from S1 Corp., a Norcross, Ga., developer of financial technology.

SOUTHEAST

Merger and acquisition agreements are including more specific and sophisticated provisions for adjusting the deal price, or even letting a buyer back out, if the credit quality of the seller's portfolio deteriorates.

Recent reform legislation coupled with heightened enforcement ferver has given rise to concerns that increased regulatory costs, both implicit and explicit, will make it difficult for small community banks to continue operating and may force them to sell or seek strategic mergers.

Financial institutions have had no shortage of regulatory changes to manage in recent months. While the CARD Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act have occupied the majority of the headlines, there are other regulatory changes the financial sector is trying to navigate.

Sabadell United Bank has completed its merger with TransAtlantic Bank, making it the fourth-largest Florida bank based in Miami-Dade County.

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Crisis lesson No. 1: Don't wait to hold your company's first-ever conference call with investors until a few days after your stock plummeted.

LANSING, Mich. – Lake Trust CU plans to build a new branch in Ann Arbor at a site that once housed a Fidelity Bank branch.

VIENNA, Va. – Navy FCU has signed a lease to open a branch here, slated for December.

BILOXI, Miss. – Keesler FCU is teaming with Biloxi High School to open the only in-school branch in the state of Mississippi.

F.N.B. Corp. has agreed to acquire Comm Bancorp for $70 million of cash and stock as part of the company's expansion efforts into the eastern part of the Keystone State.

A gust of stock offerings is expected this fall from community banks, some bracing for heightened capital standards, others seeking to repay government capital and a few chasing acquisitions.