Washington Trust Bancorp Inc. in Westerly, R.I., is raising $50 million of capital to expand its commercial and wealth management businesses.

Adams National Bank in Washington has an agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of Currency to boost its capital, assess its senior management team, and improve the monitoring of its loans.

New numbers from the Small Business Administration give hard evidence about the toll of the credit crunch and show it was especially harsh the past two months.

To keep its capital strong after losses from its investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Cascade Financial Corp of Everett, Wash., said Thursday that it would cut its third-quarter dividend by half, to 4.5 cents a share.

Three-quarters of the community bankers responding to a survey released Thursday by Pacific Coast Bankers' Bancshares said they would vote to approve the bailout bill if they were in Congress.

Carver Bancorp Inc. in New York said Thursday that it has named Paul Hagan interim chief financial officer.

Banks are ramping up public relations efforts to calm consumers panicked by the credit crisis — and to distinguish themselves from the string of big-name institutions that have gone out of business.

Clearing a hurdle in its unusual deal to buy a converting thrift, Emclaire Financial Corp. in Emlenton, Pa., has raised $3.46 million in a stock offering.

A nonbanker buddy of mine was ribbing me just a bit a couple of weeks ago. He told me, "Man, I'd hate to be a guy trying to motivate bankers to 'shake hands and kiss babies' these days. You guys have to be clinically depressed about now, huh?"

A plan to streamline Irwin Financial Corp. of Columbus, Ind., by selling off $1 billion of home equity loans has failed.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. has raised the $65 million in capital it needed by a Tuesday deadline, but some bank trade groups are concerned that nearly all of the money came from Farm Credit institutions.

Gateway Financial Holdings Inc. in Virginia Beach said it raised $37.55 million of capital this week, fulfilling a requirement of its deal to sell itself to Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc. of Norfolk, Va.

Without a tax benefit for losses on its Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preferred stock, the $980 million-asset Cooperative Bankshares Inc. in Wilmington, N.C., expects to slip below the well-capitalized level.

High employee turnover at a community bank can be a serious financial drain. Knowing exactly who you are hiring in the first place stops the bleeding before it starts.

Hispanics in the United States will soon be the majority minority. And while leading banks have fine-tuned their efforts to reach Hispanic consumers, the rest of the industry has yet to react.

Despite recent efforts, the majority of blacks and hispanics remain unbanked.

Federal Trust Corp. in Sanford, Fla., is facing an uncertain future after a second deal to recapitalize itself collapsed on the eve of a deadline its regulator had set for it to raise cash.

Southside Bancshares Inc. in Tyler has merged Fort Worth National Bank into Southside Bank.

Banks are trying, but many American minorities remain "unbanked," according to Synovate's 2008 U.S. diversity markets report. Aegis Group's market research arm found progress has been made, but not enough to bring about parity. "While the percentage of U.S. Hispanics with any type of bank account is up seven percent, from 70 percent in 2004 to 77 percent in 2008, this is quite low when compared to the general market and African-American consumer, both of which are at least 90 percent," according to the Synovate findings.