Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. in Melrose Park, Ill., said credit quality continued to deteriorate at its subsidiary bank in the fourth quarter, and warned the bank's capital ratios are expected to fall from a well-capitalized level at the end of the third quarter to undercapitalized for the fourth quarter.

Given its performance and capital levels, Chemical Financial Corp. had long been thought of as a market consolidator in its home state of Michigan, but it remained on the sidelines — until now.

A Federal Trade Commission study of nine of the largest buyers of delinquent consumer debt has participants in this industry worried that a clampdown is coming.

The Federal Reserve announced enforcement actions Friday against North Valley Bancorp of Redding, Calif.

Chemical Financial Corp. has agreed to acquire fellow Michigan bank O.A.K. Financial Corp. in an all-stock deal worth about $77 million.

Community Central Bank Corp. in Mount Clemens, Mich., said Thursday that it had raised $2.7 million in fresh capital. The investment was made through a private placement involving local investors who bought convertible perpetual preferred stock.

Regulators, with their reputations on the line and anxiety about the future, are forcing some banks to hold on to much of the capital. In recent months, some banks that wanted to fully repay the Troubled Asset Relief Program were allowed to return a fraction.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans to issue a proposal Tuesday that would add specific types of compensation programs to the list of risk factors that determine a bank's assessment rate, according to sources.

The question of long-term viability is what gets progressive managers looking at the bank charter. And, access to the capital markets may be critically linked to viability.

The failure of our leaders to communicate the true nature of the CPP, and the media's mischaracterization of it, did severe and unnecessary damage to confidence in our nation's banking industry.

Losses on commercial real estate loans pose the biggest risk to U.S. banks this year, troubling smaller lenders while unlikely to threaten the entire financial system.

Imagine trying to persuade regulators to let a Michigan de novo expand by eight times the goal of its initial business plan on the eve of the economic meltdown.

The $1.2 billion-asset company said Tuesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it exchanged $1.1 million of fixed-rate subordinated notes for 2.2 million shares of common stock in a deal with seven investors, including one board member.

Upon disclosing its third and largest branch deal Tuesday, Amcore Financial Inc. made another announcement: its capital ratios are finally headed in the right direction.

Sun American Bank has failed to submit an acceptable capital plan to regulators, the Federal Reserve disclosed Monday.

Like a lot of companies, TLCM Holdings LLC in Richardson, Texas, was shopping for a failing bank. Its plan: transform the target's business model to provide a secondary market for bank loans.

Four Oaks Fincorp Inc., the holding company for Four Oaks Bank and Trust Co. of Four Oaks, N.C., announced Monday that it completed the acquisition of Nuestro Banco on Dec. 31.

Webster Financial Corp. announced Monday that it plans to expand its business banking portfolio by $400 million in the coming year.