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.

The Treasury Department on Thursday announced that it lost about $50 million in the public offering of its preferred stock in six smaller banks this week, though the department netted a modest profit when counting dividends and interest paid on the investments over the past three years.

Regions Financial has finished unveiling a suite of alternative financial services, including check-cashing, money transfer and expedited bill pay services, along with a prepaid card.

Gerard Cassidy, of RBC Capital Markets, on why PNC's acquisition of National City is hard to beat in the annals of bank M&A.

Sound Financial in Seattle turned a smaller profit in 2011 than it first reported after its auditors advised it to set aside additional funds for potential loan losses.

Participants in a recent American Banker roundtable say whether they would they pick a a community bank, a regional bank or a megabank if given a choice — and explain why.

Community banks are slowly finding new ways to generate fee income after overdraft legislation put a big dent in their bottom lines.

Coming off two straight profitable quarters and flush with capital from its recent public stock offering, HomeStreet Bank (HMST) in Seattle is back in the good graces of its regulators.

The Birmingham, Ala., investment bank has hired John Hamel from Roth Capital Partners and two associates to its group that advises on bank deals. Hamel will report to Robert Hutchinson, head of investment banking for depository institutions.

Mackinac Financial (MFNC) in Manistique, Mich., will raise up to $18 million through a common stock rights offering and a securities purchase agreement with an investor.

Green Bancorp in Houston is bulking up in the Dallas area with a deal to buy Opportunity Bancshares in Richardson, Texas.

Continuing its expansion in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Eagle Bancorp (EGBN) in Bethesda, Md., has opened a pair of residential loan offices in Maryland and Virginia.

A need for more re-appraisals, combined with an exodus of appraisers following the financial crisis, are causing headaches for bankers. Those factors are costing banks more money and, in some cases, potential clients.