The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed Montgomery Bank & Trust in Ailey on Friday. Ameris Bank in Moultrie, Ga., agreed to assume all of the bank's $164.4 million in deposits.

Refinancing activity continued to climb over the last three months, as did the gap between consumer and secondary market prices. Expect banks to report another quarter of strong mortgage revenues in the coming weeks.

The acting chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it is "difficult at this time to anticipate the consequences" of the possible expiration of the Transaction Account Guarantee program at the end of the year because of the uncertain economic climate.

Georgia regulators have ordered an Atlanta-area business to stop calling itself a credit union.

RBC Capital Markets recently added two bankers to its financial institutions practice.

American Banker's Robert Barba on how Kansas has become fertile territory for bank deals and why more are in the works.

Henry Michaels and Jerry Wiant of RBC Capital Markets give their outlook for deals and pricing, discuss why taking stock can still be a good thing for sellers and advise bank buyers to manage investor expectations.

Preferred Bank (PFBC) in Los Angeles is set to post its first loss since the fourth quarter of 2010 following unexpected write-downs on two loans.

Frederick County Bancorp in Frederick, Md., said Friday that its second-quarter earnings rose nearly 140% from the same period last year, to $448,000, due to improved credit quality and sharply lower deposit costs.

Wayne Savings Bancshares (WAYN) in Wooster, Ohio, is exiting the trust business and transferring its $40 million of trust assets to Thomasville Bancshares in Georgia.

Seacoast Commerce Bank (SCCB) said Thursday that it opened a second branch in the San Diego area and relocated its headquarters to that new branch.

Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, Calif., has opened a new back office facility in Tempe, Ariz., that it says will eventually house nearly 500 employees.

Montgomery County, Maryland, has picked five community banks to receive $10 million in county deposits. But the banks must make twice that amount in commercial loans to local businesses.

The Federal Reserve Board terminated written agreements with bank companies in Minnesota and Oregon and entered into a new one with a Maryland company.

Two more banks are seeking to deregister their common stock following the passage of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, citing potential savings on compliance costs.

The U.S. island territory is on the verge of having only six banks left, but executives there welcome consolidation and appear more open to change than their mainland peers.

Still holding stakes in some 325 banks, the Treasury is expected to accept bigger discounts as it works to unwind the bailout-era program.

Growth in commercial and industrial loans fell to the slowest pace in a year during the period, according to preliminary data. But the increase was still healthy enough to offset contractions in other loan categories, and help drive an expansion in balance sheets.

Officials with St. Helens Community Federal Credit Union in Oregon and nearby Wauna Federal Credit Union said they plan to merge to create a credit union with about $300 million in assets.

Four New York thrifts — Dime Savings, CMS, NorthEast Community and Fairport Savings — received approval Monday to switch from federal to state charters, adding to a growing list of converts nationwide.