An M&A situation playing out in Puerto Rico is shining a light not only on the banks involved, but also on the U.S. government's strategy for salvaging its endangered Tarp investments.

LAHAINA, Hawaii – West Maui Community FCU plans to build a two-story commercial building in Lahaina for its new offices.

The city of New Haven, Conn., is asking federal and state regulators to block the proposed $1.5 billion sale of NewAlliance Bancshares Inc. in New Haven to First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo, N.Y., claiming the transaction would not meet the "needs or convenience" of the community.

So here's what we offer the bank CEO: the hardest work imaginable; an uncertain long-term future (even if you succeed, you may be out of a job, as happened recently at a bank in the Pacific Northwest, courtesy of new investors); potential personal and board liability for your actions, however long or brief your tenure. No guarantees — for anybody.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano and senator-elect Richard Blumenthal, the state's attorney general, will hold a press conference this afternoon to denounce the deal.

A U.S. district court has approved a Federal Trade Commission settlement to shut down two groups of Florida-based telemarketers that allegedly flooded consumers with misleading pre-recorded robocalls falsely promising to reduce their credit card interest rates.

TransUnion predicts that both mortgage and credit card delinquencies will drop sharply again in 2011, after large declines already experienced in the second half of this year.

Wintrust Financial said it plans to sell at least 3.2 million shares of common stock and 4 million tangible equity units, news that sent the regional bank's shares lower.

Unless Congress acts before Jan. 1, more than 4,200 farmers who have used Farm Service Agency loans for more than 15 years will be unable to get loans with federal guarantees. This is significant since farmers often take out operating loans each year to fund purchases of fertilizer and other supplies.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Advantis CU reopened its flagship, 12,380-square-foot branch in Belmont yesterday after an extensive, $2.2 million upgrade in structure and technology.

Community Shores Bank Corp. in Muskegon, Mich., said Monday that it is voluntarily delisting from the Nasdaq. Community Shores said in a press release that it expected to file the delisting with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 16, when it also will cease trading its common stock on the Nasdaq.

Center Bancorp Inc. in Union, N.J., said late Friday that two directors had resigned and that it planned to appoint an investment manager to the board.

First BanCorp on Monday said it rejected a takeover offer from Doral Financial Corp. last week in favor of a deal with the Treasury Department to bolster its balance sheet by raising capital.

The Federal Trade Commission announced Monday it has banned a deceptive advertising operation from the debt-relief business under a $28.2 million judgment settlement.

Internal Revenue Service agents and local law enforcement raided collection agency Maxwell, Turner & Associates Inc.'s office in Monrovia, Calif. on Friday and arrested two suspects for allegedly scamming local businesses out of millions of dollars in a telemarketing scheme.

VIENNA, Va. – Navy Fed plans to add another new branch today–its 22nd in the past two months–at nearby Colonial Heights, Va., to serve military personnel at Fort Lee.

UNIVERSAL CITY, Texas – Fast-growing Randolph-Brooks FCU plans to open seven new branches in the next two years.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Generations Community CU has agreed to sell its 70-year-old office building, the city’s former train station, to VIA Metropolitan Transit, which plans to build a new bus depot out of the historic structure.

Credit unions are facing the same lending challenges as banking companies, setting a pace to have their first full-year decline in 30 years, according to the latest data from the Credit Union National Association.

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc. in New York said Friday that net income rose 28.8% in fiscal 2010. The $147 million-asset company earned $1.6 million in the year that ended Sept. 30, or 74 cents a share, compared with $1.3 million, or 56 cents a share, in the previous fiscal year. Total assets rose 2.2%, to $147 million.