With bad loans mounting, Freedom Bancshares Inc. in Commerce, Ga., has hired an investment banker to review its strategic options, and its bank has received a cease-and-desist order from the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.

Mid Penn Bank in Millersburg, Pa., warned Monday that it expects to record two hefty fourth-quarter expenses: a $700,000 provision for loan losses and a $478,000 severance payment for its former chief executive officer.

Troubled or start-up banks that need a capital infusion should not bother calling Patriot Financial Partners LP in Philadelphia.

A Houston start-up bank is getting into the mortgage warehouse business, and some consultants are advising other community banks to consider doing the same.

For banks awaiting word on whether they are eligible for capital infusions from the Treasury Department, approval may hinge on whether they can raise money on their own first.

The Federal Reserve Board on Monday announced written agreements putting clamps on three community banks: Michigan Heritage Bank, Birthright Inc., and Cherokee Bancshares Inc.

Chemung Financial Corp. in Elmira, N.Y., aims to expand into Pennsylvania with a deal to for the $80 million-asset Canton Bancorp Inc.

A Chicago banking company that had been considering selling itself is off the block.

Investor demand for pooled trust-preferred securities may be dead, but the market for trust-preferreds issued by individual banks is making a comeback.

One of the main lessons learned from the current crisis is that not all investments, whether collateralized debt or mortgage obligations, are what they appear, despite claims and even ratings by a third party.

To the Editor:

Investor skepticism over whether Flagstar Bancorp Inc. will get capital from the Treasury Department has punished the Troy, Mich., company's stock to the point that it is in danger of being delisted.

Greater Atlantic Financial Corp.'s deal to sell itself to Summit Financial Group Inc. in Moorefield, W.Va., has fallen through — again — apparently done in this time by a steep drop in deposits.

SOUTHEAST

A New York private equity firm has agreed to invest $250 million in Flagstar Bancorp Inc., gaining 70% ownership of the Troy, Mich., thrift company. But the deal's completion hinges on Flagstar receiving an additional $250 million from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Temecula Valley Bancorp Inc. in California said Wednesday that Frank Basirico Jr. has been promoted to chief executive officer and that chief operating officer Martin E. Plourd has added the title of president.

An investment fund controlled by Guaranty Bancorp chairman John Eggemeyer is seeking Federal Reserve Board approval to roughly quadruple its stake in the Denver banking company.

Two weeks after its deal to sell itself fell through, Camco Financial Corp. in Cambridge, Ohio, said Tuesday that its chairman, president, and chief executive officer, Richard C. Baylor, has resigned, effective immediately.

Flush with $200 million of fresh capital, Iberiabank Corp. in Lafayette, La., is shopping for distressed banks.

With a deal to buy a New Jersey thrift, Investors Bancorp Inc. in Short Hills, N.J., is edging closer to reaching its goal of $10 billion of assets.