Americas

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday announced that it had reached a written agreement with BW Bancorp in Ely, Minn.

First Community Bancshares Inc. in Bluefield, Va., appears poised to make acquisitions after raising $19 million in fresh capital.

Battered by defaults on real estate loans, FNB United Corp. of Asheboro, N.C. reported a loss of nearly $45 million in the first quarter and says that it is likely to fail if a previously announced recapitalization plan falls through.

SCB Bank in Shelbyville, Ind., is running low on capital after management opted to set aside more than $11 million to cover problem loans dating to the tenure of its former chief executive.

Less than two years after it acquired Federal Trust Bank in Sanford, Fla., so it could qualify for a federal bailout, insurance giant Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is selling the thrift to another Florida banking company.

Three failures late Friday, including a pair in Georgia, cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. an estimated $445 million.

After years of experimentation, some banks are finding the right mix of technology, ambiance and human interaction. The most effective formula varies, and the only constant is that there are no absolutes.

As Michaels Stores Inc. continues its investigation into the payment terminal tampering that affected 80 of its stores, experts say other merchants are likely just as vulnerable and should be investigating their own hardware.

For the first time in its history, Virginia Community Bank in Louisa has a CEO whose name is not A. Pierce Stone.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. and Legacy Bancorp Inc., both of Pittsfield, Mass., have agreed to sell off four overlapping branches as a condition of their merger.