To the Editor:
The article from Sept. 25 on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s agreement with First Financial Bank to take over the Irwin banks ["Acquirer Impresses with Terms Won in Failure Buy"] fails to capture how the process works.

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When Larry Brown, the chief executive at Bank of Little Rock, first heard the name Kasasa, he thought the conversation had turned from rewards checking to what's for dinner.

The Federal Reserve Board has ordered Bankers' Bancorp Inc. in Springfield, Ill., and its subsidiary Independent Bankers' Bank, to improve accounting practices.

KleinBank's new CEO already has a deal to buy a struggling one-branch competitor, and industry observers say more companies could start eyeing similar small deals.

Eager to bolster its capital ratios, Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. in Flint, Mich., said Monday that it will more than triple the number of shares it has outstanding, as part of a deal to exchange subordinated debt and trust-preferred securities for common stock.

American Home Bank in West Chester, Pa., is looking to buy seasoned, high-quality residential mortgage loans from financial institutions.

PVF Capital Corp. in Solon, Ohio, cited a steep increase in its loan-loss provision in reporting that the net loss for its fiscal fourth quarter widened 192% from the year earlier, to $7.9 million.

The president and chief executive officer of Royal Asian Bank in Philadelphia is leading a group of investors that struck a deal to buy it.

Last week a handful of struggling companies either closed on capital raises or announced plans to raise capital despite pending or expected agreements with regulators.

Regulators closed the $2 billion-asset Georgian Bank in Atlanta on Friday, the industry's 95th failure of the year. Despite its relatively small size, regulators estimated it would take a heavy toll on the Deposit Insurance Fund, costing $892 million.

When it bought the failed bank and thrift units of Irwin Financial Corp. from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. last week, First Financial managed to get terms so attractive that others are taking notice.

A small Florida bank raised $70 million through an initial public offering Wednesday, in what is believed to be the first such deal in the banking sector in two years.

With as much as $196.6 million headed to its war chest, Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., could be striking deals for failed banks soon.

SOUTHEAST

With its expansion into Pennsylvania underway through two large acquisitions there, First Niagara Financial Group said Wednesday that it intends to sell $400 million of common stock so it can continue the buying spree.

With its stock trading under a dollar since June 23, Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. is in danger of being delisted.