Even before opening their doors as a combined company, two merging North Carolina banks have found themselves in the midst of controversy.

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The largest investor in a Philadelphia thrift is taking his battle with its board of directors to new heights.

American Savings Bank in Honolulu has settled a lawsuit with its former security chief, who had claimed that the thrift covered up a branch employee's financial abuse of an elderly customer.

Franklin Bank Corp. in Houston has just completed its largest acquisition ever, and its chief executive says it is not done buying Texas banks.

A Washington State mortgage lender has withdrawn its application to form a bank after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. raised concerns regarding its lending concentrations.

Mercantile Bank Corp. in Grand Rapids announced that Gerald R. Johnson Jr., its founding chairman and chief executive, will retire June 30.

Mercantile Bancorp Inc. of Quincy, Ill., agreed to sell its stake in New Frontier Bancshares Inc. of St. Charles, Mo., for $6.8 million in cash.

Central Bancompany Inc. of Jefferson City, Mo., plans to acquire the $280 million-asset Metcalf Bancshares Inc. of Overland Park, Kan., for $75 million in cash.

Reeling from the impact of a "sophisticated loan scheme" that will deplete much of its capital, Sterling Financial Corp. in Lancaster, Pa., may have no choice but to sell itself, analysts said.

Coast Financial Holdings Inc. has lost more than 80% of its market value for the year, and recent events suggest that its problems are nowhere near resolution.

For the last three years the Small Business Administration has been funding its 7(a) and 504 loan programs with user fees charged to borrowers and lenders, eliminating the need for a congressional subsidy that been used for that purpose for five decades.

Two states are considering duplicating a program in New York that rewards banks with government deposits for opening branches in neighborhoods with little or no banking services.

BOK Financial Corp. in Tulsa announced Wednesday that it has a deal to buy the troubled United Banks of Colorado Inc. in Englewood for $43 million in cash.

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Six years after their merger of equals was called off, BancTrust Financial Group Inc. in Mobile, Ala., has agreed to buy the $905 million-asset Peoples BancTrust Co. Inc. of Selma, Ala., for $153 million in cash and stock.

Private-equity firms are betting that current industry challenges will create opportunities to buy into struggling banking companies at bargain prices, and at least two have recruited experienced bankers to help.

OceanFirst Financial Corp. in Toms River, N.J., said it will close its troubled mortgage unit, Columbia Home Loans LLC, rather than sell it.