Southwest Securities of Dallas is expanding into southern New Mexico. The banking unit of the $5.3 billion-asset SWS Group Inc. said Monday that it recruited a team of experienced bankers to establish a branch in Ruidoso by late July, its first outside of Texas.

Citing declining real estate values in its market area, Provident Financial Holdings Inc. in Riverside, Calif., said Monday that its earnings in the quarter that ended March 31 fell by 59% from the same period a year earlier, to $957,000. Earnings per share fell 58%, to 16 cents.

Robert D. Davis is unfazed when he hears a skeptical reaction to his company's new name: Vist Financial Corp.

Most private-equity groups that invest in banks and thrifts keep their holdings to less than 10% so that they can avoid registering as holding companies, but a Memphis firm with $50 million burning a hole in its pocket has no such reservations.

The four-year-old Emerald Bank in Dublin, Ohio, is adding a second branch by acquiring one in the Columbus suburb of Westerville.

Omni Financial Services Inc. in Atlanta said it is awash in foreclosures and expects to report a "substantial loss" for last year.

CSB Bancorp Inc. of Millersburg, Ohio, plans to acquire Indian Village Bancorp Inc. of Gnadenhutten for $7.9 million in cash and stock.

Moving beyond its troubled past, Rurban Financial Corp. in Defiance, Ohio, has set an ambitious goal: doubling its assets within two years in one of the nation's most economically challenged states.

Federal Trust Corp. in Sanford, Fla., must raise capital by July 15 or sell itself, according to a cease-and-desist order issued by the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Franklin Bank Corp. of Houston will miss another filing deadline.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

Oxford Bank Corp. in Michigan said Wednesday that it lost $1 million in the first quarter on bad loans and does not expect to be profitable this year.

A start-up in what was one of the hottest banking markets in the country is closing after only a year in business.

Six years ago WSFS Financial Corp. sold its reverse mortgage unit as part of an effort to focus more on its core banking business in Delaware.

First Financial Bankshares Inc. in Abilene said it has sold $50 million of student loans this quarter for a pretax premium of $1.5 million, but it also said it is unsure it can continue to profit from that business line.

First California Financial Group Inc. in Los Angeles said Tuesday that it earned $2.2 million, or 19 cents a share, in the first quarter, after posting a loss of $1.1 million, or 15 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

Two years ago Iberiabank Corp. of Lafayette, La., said it wanted to be in three areas of Arkansas — Little Rock, Jonesboro, and the northwest part of the state.

Business is booming for the only bank in the country owned by its state's taxpayers.

Two Ohio community banks have called off an acquisition deal announced in November, citing an unforeseen delay in regulatory approval.