The Connecticut attorney general said Wednesday he is investigating First Niagara Financial Group's proposed acquisition of NewAlliance Bancshares Inc.

Your level of preparedness can be the difference between an unforeseen event being a setback or an opportunity.

In a letter Wednesday, Blumenthal asked the banks to provide his office with information about the merger and justification for it.

New Century Financial is taking the concept of trying to succeed where others have failed to an extreme. The commercial finance company, based in The Woodlands, Texas, filed a de novo bank application in July with state officials at a time when startup banks are nearly extinct.

The $3 billion-asset company filed an exchange offer memorandum Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, commencing offers to exchange newly issued shares of common stock for outstanding shares of Series A and B preferred stock.

Cascade Bancorp's lead investors are giving the company two more weeks to find additional capital.

Stonegate Bank in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said Tuesday it has agreed to buy Southwest Capital Bank in Fort Myers, Fla., for $9.4 million in an all-stock transaction.

Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. has agreed to acquire American National Bank of Fremont, the Nebraska companies announced Tuesday.

Carver Bancorp Inc., owner of the nation's largest African- and Caribbean American-run bank, reduced the dividend rate it pays to the government by shifting to another federal program.

Old Florida National Bank of Orlando and Mercantile Capital Corp. of Altamonte Springs, Fla., announced a deal in which Mercantile would become a subsidiary of Old Florida.

Eugene P. Heytow, chairman of Amalgamated Bank of Chicago, died Aug. 26. He was 76.

NorCal Community Bancorp in Alameda, Calif., reported a steeper net second-quarter loss as credit deterioration continued to affect the institution.

The Financial Services Roundtable says a controversial proposal from the Financial Accounting Standards Board is bad not just for banks and investors, but for the FASB itself because it would clash with international rules.

If the best defense is a good offense, expect local community banks to take the fight to their newest Connecticut competitor, First Niagara Financial Group of Buffalo.

Community banks reported investment program income of $110.1 million for the period, an increase of 4.6% from the fourth quarter of 2009 and a 12.6% jump from the first quarter of 2009.

Two shareholders of NewAlliance Bancshares in New Haven filed class actions last week asking a judge to block the company's proposed sale to First Niagara Financial Group of Buffalo.

Central Pacific Financial Corp. of Honolulu has appointed its turnaround consultant as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Commonwealth Business Bank in Los Angeles said its second-quarter loss improved slightly from a year earlier. The $367.3 million-asset company posted a loss of $538,000, compared with a loss of $562,000 in the second quarter of 2009.

Westamerica Bancorp of San Rafael, Calif., said its board approved the repurchase of nearly 7% of the company's outstanding common stock.

Bank of Southern California in San Diego has agreed to buy two branches from the struggling Palm Desert National Bank.