Florida

In a bid to get its bank unit adequately capitalized, Horizon Bancorp. Inc. in Bradenton, Fla., is trying to raise $5 million in a private placement of convertible preferred stock.

Two failures in Florida, including the collapse of Naples-based Orion Bank, and another in California late Friday brought the year's total to 123.

A thrift's unusually structured deal to take over a nonbank commercial lender encapsulates the key challenges facing both sectors: capital for the depositories and funding for the finance companies.

Failures in 2009 shot past the 100-mark late Friday as regulators swooped into seven community banks in the Midwest and southeast.

Failures in 2009 shot past the 100-mark late Friday as regulators swooped into seven community banks in the Midwest and southeast.

The industry marked a stark milestone Friday — the 100th bank failure of 2009. It is the first time since 1992 that failures hit triple digits.

After years of idling, Florida Shores Bancorp Inc. is shifting into high gear with a new strategy that reflects changes in the regulatory and economic environment since the company's founding.

In what it is calling a first step toward replenishing its capital, Mercantile Bancorp Inc. in Quincy, Ill., said it intends to merge its flailing Florida bank with a stronger unit.

A small Florida bank raised $70 million through an initial public offering Wednesday, in what is believed to be the first such deal in the banking sector in two years.

Jay Kislak, chairman of the real estate investment company J.I. Kislak Inc., has applied to receive a shelf charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Regulators closed two community banks in Florida, and one in Oregon, Friday evening to bring the year's failure total to 72.

Regulators closed institutions in five states late Friday, bringing the year's toll to 69 and leaving the FDIC with almost $1 billion more in losses.