BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., spends more on marketing than most companies its size - and with one of the nation's most effective retail banks soon to enter its territory, it plans to spend a lot more, its chief executive said.

Running a bank these days may be more demanding than ever before, but it appears that chief executives are at least being well compensated for their trouble.

While more and more banks are targeting female entrepreneurs, a start-up in tony Scottsdale, Ariz., is courting affluent women, whether they work or not.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

First Midwest Bancorp Inc. of Itasca, Ill., said Wednesday that regulators had freed its bank from orders to improve compliance with anti-money-laundering laws.

First Citizens Bancshares Inc.’s new head of wealth management services says her unit will grow by exploiting niche markets within the Raleigh, N.C., company’s footprint and that of its fast-expanding IronStone Bank subsidiary.

BancorpSouth Inc. of Tupelo, Miss., joined the list of banking companies to quantify the effects of the recent hurricanes on its third-quarter earnings.

The Credit Union National Association, in a move it openly acknowledges is payback, has come out in opposition to Zions Bancorp.'s acquisition of Amegy Bancorp.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. of Nashville, the fastest-growing bank in Tennessee, announced its first acquisition deal Monday - an agreement to buy Cavalry Bancorp Inc. of Murfreesboro, Tenn., for $175 million.

Community banks typically welcome investments from other banks, but one small New Jersey bank's bid to buy a nearly 25% stake in a hometown rival has turned out to be anything but friendly.

Most people do not want banks to share their personal information with third-party brokers, insurance agents, or firms that might sell it to telemarketers, but they do not mind if banks give information to affiliates if they could get specially tailored advice as a result.

When Guy Williams, the chief executive officer of Gulf Coast Bank and Trust, first saw the bank's main branch in downtown New Orleans a week after Hurricane Katrina hit, he was shocked to find it in the same condition in which he'd left it.

In what it is calling the largest mortgage lending program ever by an African-American-owned financial institution, OneUnited Bank plans to make $200 million of home loans to inner-city borrowers in Miami, Los Angeles, and its hometown of Boston over the next 15 months.

NEW ENGLAND

Like most banks, Yardville National Bank in Hamilton, N.J., has historically treated branch openings as festive affairs focused on raising awareness, not opening accounts.

S&T Bancorp, a Pennsylvania community banking company, has started an investment advice subsidiary and says it plans to buck conventional wisdom by launching a proprietary mutual fund next year.

AmeriServ Financial Inc. in Johnstown, Pa., will take a charge of $10 million to $11 million this quarter, because of penalties associated with prepaying Federal Home Loan Bank advances.

A Denver certificate of deposit broker is trying to pair investors with banks in hurricane-ravaged areas that could use the money, but so far it has been slow going.

Community Bancorp of Nevada said it has closed a $20 million private placement of trust-preferred securities.

Northway Financial Inc. in Berlin, N.H., plans to merge its two banking subsidiaries and name the combined entity Northway Bank.