North Valley Bank in Zanesville, Ohio, entered a written agreement with state and federal regulators requiring it to strengthen oversight, improve underwriting, and upgrade customer due diligence.

Underperformers beware - an upstate New York investor looking to raise $20 million to buy stakes in community banks says he is targeting those "that either need to be sold or where management needs a good kick in the pants."

Four law firms initiated class actions alleging that Coast Financial Holdings Inc. of Bradenton, Fla., issued "materially misleading" statements about its loan portfolio that have caused its stock price to plunge more than 55% since mid-January.

As James J. Giancola, the president and chief executive of Midwest Banc Holdings, sees it, the Chicago area is overbanked and overbranched, and the only way for banks there to grow is through acquisitions.

After reviewing its strategic alternatives, Peoples BancTrust Co. Inc. in Selma, Ala., has decided to remain independent.

Shares of Cadence Financial Corp. fell 4.5% Thursday after the Starkville, Miss., company warned that first-quarter earnings would fall well short of its expectations.

Largely focused on organic growth for the past decade, Sandy Spring Bancorp in Olney, Md., has struck two deals in the last six months, and it is not stopping there.

A mutual savings bank in Elmwood Park, N.J., filed suit Thursday against Lawrence B. Seidman, alleging that he is orchestrating an illegal takeover attempt.

Peoples Community Bancorp Inc. in West Chester, Ohio, said Thursday that it has agreed with the Office of Thrift Supervision on formalizing a plan to clean up its loan portfolio.

Postal Community Credit Union in Boston has initiated a second attempt to convert to a mutual savings bank and submitted disclosures on the proposed charter switch to the National Credit Union Administration.

NEW ENGLAND

The newly formed First Texas BHC Inc. in Fort Worth announced Wednesday that it has a deal acquire the $300 million-asset Southwest Bank of Fort Worth.

It has been a bruising 18 months for Yardville National Bancorp, but its stock price continues to hold up, because investors are betting it is only a matter of time before it sells itself.

ShoreBank Corp. in Chicago announced Tuesday that Bob J. Nash, its vice chairman, has resigned to become the deputy campaign manager of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

CFS Bancorp Inc. in Munster, Ind., is planning to trim its work force by about 7.5%, a move that it said would reduce its salary and benefit expenses by about $1.3 million a year.

Bradford Bancorp Inc. in Baltimore announced yet another deal for a Baltimore-area bank Monday, saying it would buy the $247 million-asset Patapsco Bancorp. Inc. in Dundalk, Md., for $45.5 million in cash and stock.

Carver Bancorp Inc. of New York has agreed to offer investment services through Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. in two of Carver's 10 branches.

For years, small-town bankers have lamented the impact of depopulation on their communities — and their banks.