Cascade Bancorp in Bend, Ore., had until last Friday to secure $150 million of badly needed capital, and it remains unclear whether it got the funding.

A quest to tap local markets has inadvertently made Grandpoint Capital Inc. one of the more culturally diverse banking companies in the country.

Cascade Financial Corp., which received a government bailout, is among three small bank holding companies the Federal Reserve is scrutinizing.

Its $150 million investment in National Penn Bancshares Inc. seems counterintuitive given the Boyertown, Pa., company's strong commitment to commercial real estate lending as others put more emphasis on commercial and industrial loans.

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So the $3.8 billion-asset company has created a safeguard to protect $120 million of tax assets that could be used should the company return to profitability, which given its most recent quarterly numbers could be sooner rather than later.

Northwest Bancshares Inc. of Warren, Pa., has called off its deal to buy NexTier Inc. of Butler, Pa., at the urging of regulators after Northwest's consumer-compliance program was called into question.

Nearly two years after the regulator let a film crew tag along as it seized the $232 million-asset company in a segment for the news program "60 Minutes," the FDIC is going after former officers and directors. In what is expected to be the first of many professional-liability lawsuits against individuals associated with failed banks, the FDIC wants to recoup some losses sustained by its Deposit Insurance Fund in the current economic cycle.

The FDIC is set to make a massive change to the way it calculates premiums, releasing a proposal Tuesday that would force banks to pay assessments based on total liabilities.

David Earls, a financial adviser at Workers' Credit Union, says a series of misconceptions by other advisers about blue-collar people has helped his business to thrive.

Minority banks have a central role to play in our nation's future economic growth, but first they must respond to two challenges — the unprecedented collapse in real estate values and the wave of consolidation sweeping through the banking system.

Circumstances beyond its control drove Sallie Mae into retail banking, but the venture, once a stopgap, is now the cornerstone of its survival strategy.

Though banks surveyed by the Federal Reserve have reported a gradual loosening of credit standards in recent quarters, it may be a while before lending standards return to normal.

Regulators failed four banks late Friday, pushing the total number of collapses this year to 143. Closures are now are at their highest point since the S&L crisis.

The Office of Thrift Supervision has given Superior Bancorp of Birmingham, Ala., until the end of March to strengthen capital ratios significantly.

The largest shareholder of Sterling Bancshares Inc. is preparing for a proxy contest to overhaul the Houston company's board.

The private-equity commitments that Central Pacific Financial Corp. of Honolulu touted in its Nov. 2 earnings release have been finalized.

Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc. posted a surprise third-quarter loss on Oct. 22 from an unexpected, and unwelcome, event: its charging off of the decline in collateral values for all of its criticized loans.

North American Financial Holdings Inc. is set to pick up a big chunk of a North Carolina bank in a bid to build a Southeast powerhouse.

A handful of small banks have also struck deals recently that will heighten their name recognition and allow them to cull customers out of massive audiences.