NEW ENGLAND

The deal that Oritani Financial Corp. announced Wednesday for Greater Community Bancorp would give the Washington Township, N.J., thrift company more core funding, more commercial banking expertise, and more branches in counties where it already operates.

Tompkins Financial Corp. of Ithaca, N.Y., said Tuesday that it is buying Sleepy Hollow Bancorp Inc. for $30.2 million.

Southside Bancshares Inc. in Tyler, Tex., said in a Securities and Exchange Commision filing late Tuesday that it would restate its consolidated statement of cash flows in earnings reports for 2004, 2005 and 2006.

LAS VEGAS — America's Community Bankers last-ever conference included lots of discussion on the credit crisis, regulatory burden, and other hot-button issues, but it wasn't all business.

New Century Bancorp Inc. of Dunn, N.C., has lost money in two straight quarters and has been slapped with an enforcement order for lax underwriting, but its chief executive said that it has addressed regulators' concerns, and that it is already on the road back to profitability.

Alan B. Levan, the chairman and chief executive officer of BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has more than one company getting stung by the housing market's troubles.

Middle Atlantic community banks that need correspondent banking services have no shortage of options; there are bankers’ banks based in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and the nation’s largest bank for other banks opened a Maryland office two years ago, mainly to help small banks make loans that exceed their limits.

F.N.B. Corp. in Hermitage, Pa., has been anxious to expand beyond its Rust Belt markets, and on Friday it struck a deal that would move it into some of the faster-growing regions of its home state.

Ooh! Nothing like waking up to a disagreeable American Banker story ["Banks, CUs to Fill Payday Gap? Maybe," Nov. 7]. Hard way to start off your day! Creates about the same visceral sensation as dropping a really hot cup of coffee in your lap during the morning commute!

The clock is ticking on an Alexandria, Va., company formed last year for the purpose of buying banks.

When a credit union evaluates a new market for branching, household growth is almost always the first statistic they seek as a gauge of market opportunity. This is certainly sensible, since it is easier to thrive in a market where additional households can support the added branch than in a flat growth market where a new branch just carves the existing household pool into one more slice. This belief has led bankers to branch aggressively into Florida, Texas, Arizona, and other high-growth areas.

It has been a challenging year for community banking companies, but most can take comfort at least in the fact that they have little or no exposure to subprime mortgages.

Tennessee Commerce Bancorp Inc. in Franklin said Thursday that issues surrounding a compensation committee vote removed the danger of its being delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market.

To the Editor:

Shares of Sun American Bancorp continue to tumble amid speculation about further deteriorating credit quality at the Boca Raton, Fla. banking company.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

The Credit Union Journal