A North Carolina banking deal is in danger of being undone, quite unusually, from the inside out.

Amcore Financial Inc. in Rockford, Ill., has bought itself some time to raise capital by deferring the interest payments on its trust-preferred securities.

Recent conversations with bankers about budgetary "belt tightening" have given me flashbacks to my first job in banking.

Paul A. Perrault is set to become the chief executive officer of Brookline Bancorp Inc. in Massachusetts this spring.

NEW ENGLAND

A few years ago, Rainier Pacific Financial Group Inc. had money it needed to put to work, so, like many of its peers, the Tacoma company turned to pools of other banks' trust-preferred securities.

Mercantile Bancorp Inc. of Quincy, Ill., said Wednesday that it swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $6.7 million, or 77 cents a share, on loan problems in once-hot real estate markets in the Southeast.

Beverly Hills Bancorp Inc. in Calabasas, Calif., said Tuesday that it has a deal to replenish its capital.

Spotting opportunity where bankers do not, acquisitive outsiders are moving in on targets in the financial services industry.

Integra Bank Corp. may get a second shot at taking over Peoples Community Bancorp Inc.

Though it qualifies as well capitalized under the typical standards, Horizon Bank in Bellingham, Wash., is now under a regulatory order to fatten its capital levels.

First Federal of Northern Michigan Bancorp Inc. in Alpena announced Friday that it is selling its insurance subsidiary as it refocuses its attention on community banking.

Bankers are increasingly asking themselves whether taking government funds is a good deal — and coming up with more reasons not to.

Saving is in vogue again, and banks are beginning to get in on the action.

Hoping to capitalize on the departure of competitors, Tennessee Commerce Bancorp of Franklin is stepping up its nationwide business of financing equipment purchases for small companies.

Shares of Cape Fear Bank Corp. lost half of their value Thursday, after the $473 million-asset Wilmington, N.C., company said that regulators ordered it to maintain higher capital levels.

Capmark Financial Group Inc., a Horsham, Pa., commercial real estate finance company, has withdrawn its Federal Reserve Board application to become a bank holding company and is in talks with lenders to restructure its revolving credit and bridge loan agreements to avoid default.

Iberiabank Corp. in Lafayette, La., is believed to be the first banking company in the country to announce it will give back the money it received from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Waterford Village Bank in Williamsville, N.Y., must increase its capital and assess its management to satisfy consent orders from the New York State Banking Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.