To borrow from Mr. Becker's disingenuous BankThink piece ("More Credit Union Business Lending Would Boost Economy"), it's time for our nation's leaders to get serious about credit unions.

New York Community would be paid $24 million to assume $2.3 billion of deposits from Aurora Bank, a former Lehman unit. The liquidity could be used to retire bonds coming due, Joseph Ficalora says.

Legislators are considering a proposed tax overhaul that would move $30 million of taxes from community banks to larger banks. With smaller bills, community banks say they can lend more.

Porter Bancorp's loss for last year widened after the Louisville, Ky., company increased its loan-loss provision by $8.8 million.

First Mariner Bancorp has warned investors that it is in danger of failing.

BancTrust Financial Group (BTFG), a troubled Mobile, Ala., company that is looking for a buyer, has bought itself time to find one after reaching a deal to delay interest payments on a $20 million loan outstanding to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYB) has agreed to take on $2.3 billion of deposits from Aurora Bank FSB, a former mortgage arm of Lehman Brothers that has been winding down.

Three weeks after completing an acquisition for one small Pennsylvania bank, S&T Bancorp in Indiana, Pa., has struck a deal for another.

The Treasury Department is looking to fully vacate its role as a common shareholder of Central Pacific Financial in Honolulu.

More than 20 banks in the state are still in the Treasury Department's program with limited options to get out. Selling could be the best solution, industry observers say.

Wilshire Bancorp in Los Angeles has exited the Troubled Asset Relief Program by repurchasing the bulk of its shares it issued to the Treasury Department at a slight discount.

A small Florida bank whose shares are so thinly traded that they are in danger of being delisted is suddenly one of the hottest stocks on the Nasdaq — and its president has no idea why.

The profile of a typical bank failure has taken on a new shape in 2012, with the combustion of construction loan portfolios giving way business loan blowups.

Bankers should take these red flags into account when assessing corporate credit and vendor risk. No. 1 on the list: when a company's chairman and CEO are the same individual.

The Treasury Department this week appointed directors to join a pair of banking companies that have missed multiple dividend payments tied to the Troubled Asset Relief Program: Intervest Bancshares and First Security Group.

StellarOne (STEL) in Charlottesville, Va., has started searching for a new president and chief executive after O.R. Barham Jr. notified its board that he would retire at the end of 2013.

Capitol Bancorp's losses narrowed in 2011, but the Lansing, Mich., company remains deeply troubled as its equity deficit continues to widen.

The American Bankers Association is opposed to legislation that would expand a credit union's ability to make small business loans. Last week, ABA members went to Washington and gave lawmakers an earful.

Scores of banks remain in the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program more than three years after its inception, and nine states account for more than half of all remaining Tarp participants. Here is a breakdown of those states, with numbers as of Feb. 29.

The former chairman and chief executive at Citizens Republic Bancorp in Flint, Mich., has been elected lead independent director at Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania.