SOUTHEAST

Conrad Hanson, the president and chief executive of City Bank in Lynnwood, Wash., is one community banker who is not worried about how proposed federal guidelines on commercial real estate lending would the affect his bank's bottom line.

Hudson City Bancorp Inc. in Paramus, N.J., said Wednesday that despite a shrinking net interest margin, first-quarter earnings rose on strong asset growth.

To hear Commerce Bancshares Inc. chairman David W. Kemper tell it, the Kansas City, Mo., company never took a break from acquisitions, it just did not come across any deals it liked.

Despite strong loan, deposit, and revenue growth, Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp Inc. in Camp Hill said its first-quarter net income fell 17% from the same period a year earlier, to $2 million.

Encouraged by bankers, some Farm Belt legislators are blasting the President's plan to fund the Farm Service Agency with user fees, arguing that it would only jack up loan costs for borrowers who can least afford it.

Republic Bancorp Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich., said its first-quarter earnings fell 5% from the same quarter last year, to $16.4 million.

BankUnited Financial Corp. in Coral Gables, Fla., reported that earnings for its fiscal second quarter, which ended March 31, rose 45% from a year earlier, to a record $19.7 million.

Texas Regional Bancshares Inc. in McAllen said Monday that its first-quarter earnings beat estimates despite falling about 3%, to $23 million.

Don J. McGrath, the president and chief executive of BancWest Corp., says his San Francisco company is focused for now on organic growth, though its Paris parent, BNP Paribas, recently reiterated its interest in U.S. bank deals.

Corus Bancshares Inc. of Chicago reported Monday that its first-quarter earnings rose 54% from a year earlier, to $43.3 million.

Ryan Beck & Co.'s plan to raise $100 million in a public offering would give the investment bank and brokerage firm more independence from its parent company, BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Allegheny Valley Bancorp Inc. in Pittsburgh has agreed to buy RSV Bancorp Inc., also of Pittsburgh, for $16.2 million.

DFCU Financial Federal Credit Union in Dearborn, Mich., said it has withdrawn its application to become a mutual savings bank.

The eye-popping price that Trustmark Corp. agreed to pay for a Houston community bank shows just how eager out-of-state banking companies are to bulk up in one of the country's fastest-growing markets.

Commerce Bancshares Inc. of Kansas City. Mo., announced its second deal in less than two weeks Thursday, when it said it would buy West Pointe Bancorp Inc. of Belleville, Ill., for $80.9 million.

The Office of Thrift Supervision issued a final rule Wednesday revising the definition of "community development" in its Community Reinvestment Act regulations.

In December, Alan B. Levan, BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc.'s chairman and chief executive, said that he would work harder to gather deposits after citing a slowdown in growth during the previous six months.