Illinois

Few would argue that it's tough to own a community bank these days. It can be even more difficult to co-own a struggling bank — fifty-fifty — with another family.

Eugene P. Heytow, chairman of Amalgamated Bank of Chicago, died Aug. 26. He was 76.

ShoreBank, the country's first community development bank, failed Friday night after months of struggling to find a way to stay afloat. However, it will continue in a different form.

ShoreBank, the country's first community development bank, failed Friday night after months of struggling to find a way to stay afloat. However, it will continue in a different form.

Community Financial Shares Inc. in Glen Ellyn, Ill., reported a steeper loss, $2.8 million, in the second quarter than the $446,000 a year earlier and blamed loss provisioning.

WASHINGTON — Illinois regulators closed the $493 million-asset Palos Bank and Trust Co. late Friday, the 110th failure of the year.

If ShoreBank is trying to get open-bank assistance, as some media outlets have reported, the undercapitalized lender's odds of success are long.

Illinois' failure tally for 2010 continued to grow late Friday with the closure of $265 million-asset Ravenswood Bank.

WASHINGTON — Illinois' failure tally for 2010 continued to grow late Friday with the closure of $265 million-asset Ravenswood Bank.

Consumers Credit Union in Waukegan, Ill., has joined the list of financial services companies using Fiserv Inc.'s Acumen account processing software.

Taylor Capital Group Inc. of Chicago on Thursday posted a much wider second-quarter loss than analysts expected, which it said stemmed from asset-quality problems and a one-time charge for raising capital.

The $12.8 billion-asset company posted a loss of $818,000, or 1 cent a share, for the second quarter. The analyst estimate called for a 22-cent loss.

The $10.6 billion-asset company's earnings were driven primarily by a $51 million gain stemming from a failed bank acquisition completed in the quarter, MB Financial said Thursday.

A regulatory maneuver rarely used since the savings and loan crisis has saved Family Federal Savings of Illinois in the nick of time.

Five months after raising capital by selling two banks, Mercantile Bancorp Inc. in Quincy, Ill., is turning to shareholders for more.

Second Federal Savings and Loan in Chicago views itself as the ShoreBank for its surrounding Hispanic community and hopes prospective investors will see it that way, too.

As House members debated the financial regulatory package, Republicans Judy Biggert and Darrell Issa surprisingly won adoption of an amendment Wednesday that would require the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s inspector general to investigate whether political pressure played a role in securing private-sector assistance for troubled institutions.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators shut three more banks on Friday, including $2.8 billion-asset TierOne Bank of Lincoln, Neb., a struggling 103 year-old thrift.

Lured by the chance to raise capital and worried about the future of the Office of Thrift Supervision, a wave of mutual holding companies have received approval to convert to full stock companies.

A day after financial companies banded together to rescue ShoreBank in Chicago with a $140 million investment, two Republican lawmakers are asking President Obama about his involvement.