Greater Atlantic Financial Corp.'s deal to sell itself to Summit Financial Group Inc. in Moorefield, W.Va., has fallen through — again — apparently done in this time by a steep drop in deposits.

SOUTHEAST

A New York private equity firm has agreed to invest $250 million in Flagstar Bancorp Inc., gaining 70% ownership of the Troy, Mich., thrift company. But the deal's completion hinges on Flagstar receiving an additional $250 million from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Temecula Valley Bancorp Inc. in California said Wednesday that Frank Basirico Jr. has been promoted to chief executive officer and that chief operating officer Martin E. Plourd has added the title of president.

LAKELAND, Fla. – Community First CU is building a green branch that is designed to wrap around an existing Bruster’s Ice Cream Shoppe (which will remain open during construction), increasing the area’s development density while minimizing changes to infrastructure and local traffic.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Despite market conditions, Altura CU is moving ahead with its expansion plans, having added three new service facilities over the past month.

An investment fund controlled by Guaranty Bancorp chairman John Eggemeyer is seeking Federal Reserve Board approval to roughly quadruple its stake in the Denver banking company.

Two weeks after its deal to sell itself fell through, Camco Financial Corp. in Cambridge, Ohio, said Tuesday that its chairman, president, and chief executive officer, Richard C. Baylor, has resigned, effective immediately.

Flush with $200 million of fresh capital, Iberiabank Corp. in Lafayette, La., is shopping for distressed banks.

With a deal to buy a New Jersey thrift, Investors Bancorp Inc. in Short Hills, N.J., is edging closer to reaching its goal of $10 billion of assets.

A branch of West Coast Bancorp of Lake Oswego, Ore., will be closed indefinitely after being damaged in an explosion late Friday that killed two police officers.

While now is hardly the time for optimistic forecasts, next year could present community banks with unprecedented opportunities to add customers, loans, and talent as larger rivals repair balance sheets and integrate mergers.

It is another example of government agencies working at cross purposes: Regulatory moves designed to coax private-equity money into the banking system are being undercut by the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

By relaxing the rules governing bank holding companies, the Federal Reserve is trying to pump more private equity into the banking system.

Members of the New Jersey Bankers Association have signed off on the trade group's agreement to merge with the New Jersey League of Community Bankers, paving the way for the deal to close by Jan. 1.

Throughout the credit crisis bank supervisors — federal and state — have strayed from their usual remedial practices.

CapitalSouth Bancorp in Birmingham, Ala., is considering putting itself up for sale after a plan to raise capital failed to pique investor interest.

A handful of community banks in Pennsylvania are using capital they received from the Treasury Department to save 9,000 local jobs threatened by a department store's bankruptcy filing.

MIDWEST