A federal program that awards grants to banks and other lenders that invest in neighborhood redevelopment could soon get its biggest funding boost in years.

Mutual Community Savings Bank Inc. of Durham, N.C., said it expects to receive to cease-and-desist order from state and federal regulators that would require it to improve its management and board oversight, boost capital, and develop a plan to increase earnings.

In the dog-eat-dog business of banking, a North Carolina start-up has a plan for setting itself apart: making loans to providers of pet care.

EDITOR'S NOTE

Capital Corp. of the West in Merced, Calif., said Monday that it is expanding farther south in the state's Central Valley with a deal to buy the 11 California branches of National Bank of Arizona, a unit of Zions Bancorp., for $27.4 million.

Congress is considering legislation that would give banks tax breaks for setting up accounts to help low-income people save for home purchases, business start-ups, or further education.

Two Massachusetts mutual thrifts have announced that they plan to merge.

United Security Bancshares Inc. of Thomasville, Ala., said that it has discovered evidence of potential fraud in a consumer finance unit.

First Citizens Banc Corp Inc. in Sandusky, Ohio, announced Friday that it has a deal to buy the $279 million-asset Futura Banc Corp. in Urbana, Ohio, for $63 million in cash and stock.

Highlands Bancshares Inc. of Dallas is planning an aggressive branch-building strategy in rural and urban markets to gather deposits it will deploy largely in the Dallas area.

Horizon Financial Services Corp. of Oskaloosa, Iowa, reported a loss for its fiscal third quarter, which ended March 31, and said its thrift subsidiary has consented to the terms of an enforcement order from the Office of Thrift Supervision.

It took AmericasBank Corp. of Towson, Md., nearly a decade to surpass the $100 million-asset mark, but it has embarked on a new strategy to jump-start growth: forming individually branded bank divisions in various Maryland markets led by well-known bankers there.

United Security Bancshares Inc. of Thomasville, Ala., announced late Thursday that it discovered evidence of potential fraud at one of its subsidiaries.

The battle over a proposed merger between two small Massachusetts thrifts is going to court.

MIDWEST

Community First Bancorp Inc. of Madisonville, Ky., announced late Wednesday that it is considering selling itself.

Credit union industry representatives are hoping to use a recent Government Accountability Office report on banks' profitability as ammunition in their fight to increase their business lending and revise their capital regulations.

NorCal Community Bancorp in Alameda, Calif., has opened a branch in Oakland that Stephen G. Andrews, its president and chief executive, thinks can bring in $15 million of deposits within 15 months.

Ending nearly a decade on the sidelines, Bangor Savings Bank in Maine is bulking up in the southern part of its home state.