Pacific Crest FCU announced on Monday that it is acquiring two northern California branches from ailing PremierWest Bancorp.

To date, the public dialogue about the Transaction Account Guarantee program has been divided between the political and reputational risks of continuing this extraordinary federal insurance and the potential liquidity crisis that could ensue if the program ends prematurely and abruptly.

New guidelines say directors and officers could face investigation from the agency if they copy or remove bank records before a seizure.

Less than 250 credit unions have the size, capital, and charter needed to successfully buy a community bank.

Union Bank's deal to buy Pacific Capital is making the U.S. Treasury's decision to a quick write-down on its investment in the target on look like a shrewd choice.

United Security Bancshares Inc. in Thomasville, Ala., reported a fourth-quarter loss of $9.5 million, compared with a loss of $6.5 million a year earlier, as it recorded a $4.1 million goodwill impairment charge to reflect continued weakness in its real estate portfolio.

In what would be the first acquisition in its 50-year history, Peoples State Bank in Wausau, Wis., is planning to buy the $108 million-asset Marathon State Bank in nearby Marathon City for $5.6 million.

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During an appearance to business journalists, Cordray defended his agency's powers.

Seacoast Commerce Bank in Chula Vista, Calif., will open its first loan-production office in Utah.

Community bankers are worried about stress tests, even though there is nothing in the Dodd-Frank Act requiring them to do it. While regulators are not requiring the tests for smaller banks, they are increasingly encouraging bankers conduct such tests.

Orrstown Financial Services Inc. in Shippensburg, Pa., said it expects to reach formal agreements with regulators that could require it to strengthen its credit risk management practices.

United Community Financial Corp. in Youngstown, Ohio reported a fourth-quarter profit of $7.9 million, compared with a loss of $17.3 million a year earlier, after selling four branches.

A tepid economy and regulatory uncertainty together make for strange bedfellows, as epitomized by recent deals to sell two banks to, of all things, credit unions. And along with the deals comes renewed debate on whether the nonprofit institutions should be taxed.

For young businesses to succeed, they first need business management tools, networks and coaching. Only after they have these things are they ready to take out loans.

Peoples Financial Corp. in Biloxi, Miss., revised its fourth-quarter and 2011 results to record an additional $660,000 for its loan-loss provision.

Coming off its fourth-straight money-losing year, United Bank of Philadelphia is under orders from state and federal regulators to clean up its loan portfolio, improve its capital ratios and submit to regulators a detailed plan for returning to profitability.

HomeStreet Inc.'s chief financial officer is resigning at the end of the month after helping the once-battered Seattle banking company recapitalize.

The FDIC is holding an auction for jewelry it inherited from the failed Tennessee Commerce Bank. The bank picked up the baubles after a jewelry store defaulted.

Highlands Bankshares Inc. in Petersburg, W. Va., will combine the roles of chairman and chief executive in May.