Encore Bancshares Inc. in Houston is paying to get out of Florida. The $1.6 billion-asset company announced an agreement last week to sell its six Florida branches, with $231 million in deposits and $86.2 million in loans, in two deals that will cost the company $1 million.

Roma Financial Corp. in Robbinsville, N.J., announced Thursday that it has agreed to acquire the struggling Sterling Banks Inc. of Mount Laurel, N.J., for $14.7 million in cash, or $2.52 per share.

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Britton & Koontz Capital Corp. of Natchez, Miss., has revised its fourth-quarter results to reflect a loss instead of a gain.

Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania Inc. reported on Thursday a fourth-quarter loss of $10.1 million and that it is has entered into a written agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Sandy Spring Bancorp in Olney, Md., on Thursday announced pricing for a common stock offering expected to raise at least $87.7 million.

The $667 million-asset bank, in danger of failing with more than 10% of its assets not performing, was under orders from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to more than double its leverage ratio by early February and then take it up another notch by March 8. But the agency gave the Korean-focused subsidiary of Saehan Bancorp more time, and after several false starts, the bank raised $60.5 million.

Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan offered a gloomy view of the industry's health and said Wednesday that regulators will not hesitate to crack down on troubled lenders.

ShoreBank Corp. in Chicago announced Wednesday that veteran Chicago banker David Vitale is set to become its executive chairman should it raise the capital it needs.

With four of the Pacific Northwest's larger community players warning that they may not survive, the region is solidifying its reputation as a hub for problem banks and failures.

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James D. MacPhee, who will become chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America this week, has the right pedigree for the job at the right time.

A legal battle is brewing between the parent company of AmTrust Bank of Cleveland and the federal regulators who took over the failing thrift late last year.

First Financial Services Corp. in Hendersonville, N.C., reported a $9.9 million fourth-quarter loss, six times the $1.6 million loss it posted in the same period a year earlier.

Sterling Bancorp in New York has priced its public offering and increased the number of shares the company will offer.

Gary L. Nalbandian, the Harrisburg, Pa., company's president and chief executive, said it will expand organically after its bid for Republic First Bancorp Inc. in Philadelphia collapsed.

Metro Bancorp in Harrisburg, Pa., has called off plans to buy Republic First Bancorp in Philadelphia.

Capitol Bancorp Ltd. said Monday that it has a stock redemption agreement with USNY Bank to sell its 51% interest in the $64 million-asset bank.

S.Y. Bancorp Inc. in Louisville announced revised fourth-quarter and full-year results after discovering a fraud-related problem loan.<

More than a year after the massive bank bailout started, officials announced the first fraud case Monday against an executive charged with trying to game the government's help.