After almost a year in doubt, shareholders of Tower Bancorp Inc. and First Chester County Corp. in Pennsylvania on Wednesday approved Tower's pending purchase of First Chester.

First BanCorp said Wednesday that it plans to sell nearly $702 million in loans to a new joint venture in order to reduce its high-risk exposure to Puerto Rico's crippled economy.

For the investors, the end-of-year sales would represent a tax strategy; accepting losses from underperforming bank stocks could offset gains made in other sectors of the economy.

The $12.6 billion-asset company said on Monday that it had hired Thomas Doherty to lead business banking and promoted Richard Bechtel to oversee mortgage banking.

North Valley Bancorp in Redding, Calif., is planning a 1-for-5 reverse stock split to remain in compliance with Nasdaq listing policy.

Shareholders of Comm Bancorp Inc. have approved the Clarks Summit, Pa., company's sale to F.N.B. Corp. in Hermitage, Pa.

WSFS Financial Corp. in Wilmington, Del., has announced its purchase of a bank from National Penn Bancshares Inc. in Boyertown, Pa.

Wintrust Financial Corp. in Lake Forest, Ill., is raising capital to repay government funding.

An M&A situation playing out in Puerto Rico is shining a light not only on the banks involved, but also on the U.S. government's strategy for salvaging its endangered Tarp investments.

The city of New Haven, Conn., is asking federal and state regulators to block the proposed $1.5 billion sale of NewAlliance Bancshares Inc. in New Haven to First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo, N.Y., claiming the transaction would not meet the "needs or convenience" of the community.

So here's what we offer the bank CEO: the hardest work imaginable; an uncertain long-term future (even if you succeed, you may be out of a job, as happened recently at a bank in the Pacific Northwest, courtesy of new investors); potential personal and board liability for your actions, however long or brief your tenure. No guarantees — for anybody.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano and senator-elect Richard Blumenthal, the state's attorney general, will hold a press conference this afternoon to denounce the deal.

Wintrust Financial said it plans to sell at least 3.2 million shares of common stock and 4 million tangible equity units, news that sent the regional bank's shares lower.

Unless Congress acts before Jan. 1, more than 4,200 farmers who have used Farm Service Agency loans for more than 15 years will be unable to get loans with federal guarantees. This is significant since farmers often take out operating loans each year to fund purchases of fertilizer and other supplies.

Community Shores Bank Corp. in Muskegon, Mich., said Monday that it is voluntarily delisting from the Nasdaq. Community Shores said in a press release that it expected to file the delisting with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 16, when it also will cease trading its common stock on the Nasdaq.

Center Bancorp Inc. in Union, N.J., said late Friday that two directors had resigned and that it planned to appoint an investment manager to the board.

First BanCorp on Monday said it rejected a takeover offer from Doral Financial Corp. last week in favor of a deal with the Treasury Department to bolster its balance sheet by raising capital.

Credit unions are facing the same lending challenges as banking companies, setting a pace to have their first full-year decline in 30 years, according to the latest data from the Credit Union National Association.

Gouverneur Bancorp Inc. in New York said Friday that net income rose 28.8% in fiscal 2010. The $147 million-asset company earned $1.6 million in the year that ended Sept. 30, or 74 cents a share, compared with $1.3 million, or 56 cents a share, in the previous fiscal year. Total assets rose 2.2%, to $147 million.

First BanCorp in San Juan, Puerto Rico, had cut the size of a planned common stock offering after securing a concession from the Treasury Department.