Location Root Tag

A quest to tap local markets has inadvertently made Grandpoint Capital Inc. one of the more culturally diverse banking companies in the country.

After an issuer's short-term loan program was shut down, NetSpend, which offered the program, said there is still room for some form of lending product among its offerings.

Cascade Financial Corp., which received a government bailout, is among three small bank holding companies the Federal Reserve is scrutinizing.

Its $150 million investment in National Penn Bancshares Inc. seems counterintuitive given the Boyertown, Pa., company's strong commitment to commercial real estate lending as others put more emphasis on commercial and industrial loans.

So the $3.8 billion-asset company has created a safeguard to protect $120 million of tax assets that could be used should the company return to profitability, which given its most recent quarterly numbers could be sooner rather than later.

Northwest Bancshares Inc. of Warren, Pa., has called off its deal to buy NexTier Inc. of Butler, Pa., at the urging of regulators after Northwest's consumer-compliance program was called into question.

Nearly two years after the regulator let a film crew tag along as it seized the $232 million-asset company in a segment for the news program "60 Minutes," the FDIC is going after former officers and directors. In what is expected to be the first of many professional-liability lawsuits against individuals associated with failed banks, the FDIC wants to recoup some losses sustained by its Deposit Insurance Fund in the current economic cycle.

Regulators failed four banks late Friday, pushing the total number of collapses this year to 143. Closures are now are at their highest point since the S&L crisis.

The Office of Thrift Supervision has given Superior Bancorp of Birmingham, Ala., until the end of March to strengthen capital ratios significantly.

The largest shareholder of Sterling Bancshares Inc. is preparing for a proxy contest to overhaul the Houston company's board.

The private-equity commitments that Central Pacific Financial Corp. of Honolulu touted in its Nov. 2 earnings release have been finalized.

Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc. posted a surprise third-quarter loss on Oct. 22 from an unexpected, and unwelcome, event: its charging off of the decline in collateral values for all of its criticized loans.

North American Financial Holdings Inc. is set to pick up a big chunk of a North Carolina bank in a bid to build a Southeast powerhouse.

A handful of small banks have also struck deals recently that will heighten their name recognition and allow them to cull customers out of massive audiences.

Herald National Bank has turned a profit less than two years after being started at the height of the financial crisis.

Carolina Bank Holdings Inc. reported a third-quarter loss Tuesday of $2.1 million, compared to a $110,000 loss a year earlier.

Tower Bancorp Inc. and First Chester County Corp. have extended for a third time the deadline for completing their merger.

Cardtronics Inc. is crediting its Allpoint surcharge-free ATM network for the company's recent rise in profits.

The $4.2 billion-asset Honolulu company said in a press release Tuesday that it has been working with a private-equity investor for a $98 million infusion and "is in the process of seeking to finalize an agreement for such an investment by the end of the week."

Charter Oak Bank of Napa, Calif., which is under regulatory pressure to raise capital, has agreed to be sold to Bay Commercial Bank in nearby Walnut Creek for $2.3 million.