The Office of Thrift Supervision has issued a prompt corrective action against La Jolla Bank FSB of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., ordering the thrift to merge with another institution or sell off nearly all of its assets and liabilities to become at least "adequately capitalized."

The Federal Reserve has ordered Marco Community Bank in Marco Island, Fla., to take steps to raise its capital levels.

First National Community Bancorp Inc. of Dunmore, Pa., reported a loss of $11.3 million for 2009, citing a more than tenfold increase in its provision for credit losses.

Cecilian Bank in Cecilia, Ky., has agreed to purchase two branches and a pool of commercial loans from the struggling Integra Bank of Evansville, Ind., the companies announced Wednesday.

Weeks after raising $303.6 million, Umpqua Holdings Corp. in Portland, Ore., announced late Wednesday that it had repurchased securities issued to the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

A thrift has found a resourceful way to raise some badly needed capital, one that institutions across the country could replicate: unwinding its employee stock ownership plan.

While many financial advisers continue to seek either the comforts of a megafirm or the independence of a registered investment advisory group, Adam Sherman, David Fleisher and their team have found a cozy home in the community banking channel.

The Independent Community Bankers of America sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Wednesday asking that a broad pool of community banks be made eligible for a proposed $30 billion small-business lending program.

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Tamalpais Bancorp said late Tuesday that it was in a negative capital position, with a total risk-based capital ratio of minus-0.11% at Dec. 31.

Though other banks have worked out deals with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that improved their capital positions through payments to take over a failed bank, few private deals have had such a dramatic effect on a company's capital as Everbank's purchase of Tygris, industry watchers said.

WASHINGTON — Joseph Smith, the North Carolina commissioner of banks, said federal regulators should ease restrictions on private-equity capital to help the recovery of community banks.

The portion of small businesses that told a trade group that their recent borrowing needs had not been satisfied increased 3 percentage points from the month prior, to 11% in January.

WSFS Financial Corp. of Wilmington, Del., has made James Mazarakis chief technology officer of its WSFS Bank subsidiary, which provides a range of financial services with an emphasis on trust and wealth management.

Associated Banc-Corp. in Green Bay, Wis., is working on a plan to expand its warehouse lending platform by midyear, according to executives familiar with the matter.

Horizon Bank in Austin said Tuesday that it has hired Kelli Click to run the Waco, Texas, office of a Horizon unit that helps investors roll over retirement assets into individual retirement accounts.

Despite shrinking assets by a fifth in 2009, Saehan Bancorp in Los Angeles reported that its bank unit was significantly undercapitalized at the end of the fourth quarter.

For even the healthiest of community banks looking to buy a failed peer, wishing won't necessarily make it so. Community banks face a fair number of obstacles, observers say. They must prove to skeptical regulators that they're qualified, have enough staff and expertise to beat out bigger rivals, and be able to afford prices that are rising due to competition from private equity firms.

The Treasury Department said Friday that Monarch Financial Holdings Inc. repurchased $260,000 in stock warrants, clearing the company's slate with the government.

The National Credit Union Administration has designated Cleveland as an area underserved by financial institutions, allowing a credit union there to expand its pool of potential members citywide.