Kenneth E. Buhrmaster, a top executive at the $270 million-asset 1st National Bank of Scotia in New York for 60 years before retiring in 2005, died Sunday. He was 92.

Speculation about a sale of TCF Financial Corp. is stirring again, but analysts said if TCF is shopping itself, it could struggle to get a good price.

Frontier Financial Corp., in a move to strengthen its presence in western Washington, on Wednesday agreed to acquire Washington Banking Co. for $191.1 million, or $21.40 a share.

ShoreBank Corp. in Chicago is wading into the subprime crisis with a plan to refinance thousands of subprime home loans into traditional mortgages.

Five months after closing the acquisition, Bank of Florida Corp. in Naples has completed the integration and rebranding of Old Florida Bank of Fort Myers.

WSB Financial Group Inc. in Bremerton, Wash., is cutting jobs in response to a slowdown in its mortgage business.

First Ipswich Bancorp in Massachusetts plans to sell its 10-story office building in downtown Boston and use the proceeds to increase lending.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Pittsfield, Mass., said Friday that it has completed its $82 million acquisition of Factory Point Bancorp in Manchester Center, Vt.

Sound Community Bank in Seattle plans to go partially public.

The National Credit Union Administration's board is expected this week to approve a rule expanding member access to internal books and records.

FC Holdings in Houston says it is planning to use part of the proceeds of a large capital infusion to open two separately chartered banks in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by the end of 2008.

WASHINGTON — When a bank fails, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announces it promptly, usually providing information about how customers can access their insured deposits.

Magnolia Banking Corp. in Arkansas has agreed to buy Southern State Bancshares Inc. in Malvern for $13 million.

To the Editor:

Now that it has moved its headquarters to Texas, Comerica Inc. might start buying banks there soon.

The Black Hills and Badlands region of South Dakota has emerged as a major tourist destination, and First Interstate BancSystem Inc. in Billings, Mont., wants in on the action.

Fierce competition in Los Angeles has prompted another Korean-American banking company there to search well outside its market for growth.

American National Bank of Texas, a $1.5 billion-asset Terrell subsidiary of A.N.B. Holding Co. Ltd., has a deal to acquire DNB Bancshares Inc. in Dallas.

When Home Bancshares Inc. of Conway, Ark., was in talks to buy Centennial Bancshares in Little Rock this year, negotiations hit a snag because Centennial's managers thought it was worth more than the buyer was willing to pay.