Midwest Banc Holdings Inc., which just a few months ago said it was on the prowl to buy ailing banks, is now concentrating on staying in the black.

Northwest Bancorp Inc. in Warren, Pa., announced a deal to buy a small mutual thrift.

WASHINGTON — The massive stimulus package moving through Congress aims to unclog the market for Small Business Administration loans by providing financing to the broker-dealers that buy and securitize them.

A single line in the stimulus package the House passed last week could put the Federal Reserve Board on the road to becoming a systemic risk regulator.

The story of Flagstar Bancorp Inc. just keeps getting curiouser.

Nara Bancorp Inc. in Los Angeles said Friday that it swung to a $9.9 million loss in the fourth quarter as it aggressively recognized loan losses.

Taylor Capital Group Inc. in Rosemont, Ill., reported a fifth straight quarterly loss Thursday, as bad loans mounted.

Frontier Financial Corp. of Everett, Wash., swung to a loss of $89.5 million, or $1.90 a share, in the fourth quarter, from an $18 million profit a year earlier.

The nation's financial crisis, and its downward effect on the value of private-label mortgage-backed securities, has suddenly thrust an obscure accounting issue into the spotlight.

Genworth Financial Inc., a Richmond, Va., insurer seeking to qualify for government capital by acquiring a troubled Minneapolis thrift, said Thursday that the deal is still on.

Hanmi Financial Corp. in Los Angeles said Thursday that it lost $3.8 million, or 8 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, as a result of higher credit costs.

In recent years Crescent Capital VI LLC has tried unsuccessfully to gain control of two community banks, but the private-equity firm may be closing in on its first success, with Cowlitz Bancorp.

Umpqua Holdings Corp. in Portland, Ore., said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings plunged 77% from a year earlier, to $2.2 million, partly because of deteriorating credit quality.

Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. in Melrose Park, Ill., is under new leadership.

MIDWEST

First Midwest Bancorp Inc. of Itasca, Ill., said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter loss nearly quintupled from a year earlier, to $26.9 million, or 57 cents a share, as credit quality deteriorated and the value of its investments declined sharply.

There is a reason Timothy Geithner, on just his second day as Treasury secretary, vowed to improve the approval process for banking companies seeking capital from the government.

Suburban Federal Savings Bank's hope for survival is dissipating.

If FirstFed Financial Corp. is less than well capitalized when it reports full-year earnings, regulators will require the Los Angeles thrift company to sell itself or liquidate.