Centra Financial Holdings Inc. in Morgantown, W.Va., is nearing a deal to buy the $236 million-asset Smithfield State Bank in Pennsylvania, Centra's chairman and chief executive officer, Douglas J. Leech, said Tuesday.

Bank lobbyists are staying on the sidelines of the immigration-reform debate, but individual bankers are watching the action in Washington with keen interest.

Union State Bank in Arkansas City, Kan., has agreed to buy the State Bank in Winfield.

WASHINGTON - A Senate subcommittee that has been examining the effectiveness of government agencies will take a close look this week at the embattled Small Business Administration.

Bancshares of Florida Inc. in Naples has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer up to 2.5 million common shares.

Bleak earnings prospects fueled by continued pressure from the flat yield curve caused one analyst to downgrade three New York thrift companies' stocks Monday.

Community Bankshares Inc., a multibank holding company in Orangeburg, S.C., plans to combine its four separately chartered banks and its mortgage company under a single charter.

When American Bank FSB in Bethesda, Md., opened the first of two in-store branches in outlets of the Super Fresh grocery chain in 2003, bank officials started brainstorming ideas to attract grocery store employees to the bank.

Sterling Financial Corp. in Lancaster, Pa., said Friday that it has a deal to buy Bay Net Financial Inc. in Bel Air, Md., for $23 million in cash and stock.

A merger between New Jersey’s two banking trade groups that seemed all but assured late last year has been called off, and no new discussions are scheduled.

Cathay General Bancorp in Los Angeles said Friday that it is buying a 20% stake in First Sino Bank in Shanghai for about $52.2 million.

NEW ENGLAND

One of Spain's largest banks wants to build a business wiring money from the United States to China, and it is looking to community banks here for help.

Assets at banks certified by the Treasury Department as community development financial institutions have more than tripled in the past six years, a report says.

Consumer groups have long argued that bank consolidation leads to diminished competition and higher loan rates in low-income neighborhoods.

ITLA Capital Corp. in La Jolla, Calif., has signed a deal that gives its customers free use of Wells Fargo & Co.'s branches and automated teller machines.

After losing close to $300,000 last year, Southern Connecticut Bancorp Inc. in New Haven expects to post a profit for the first quarter, said Michael M. Ciaburri, its president and chief operating officer.

Most banks build branches in communities where people already live, but First Banks Inc.'s current strategy is to open branches in areas where it expects people will be moving.