Mutual of Omaha’s thrift unit is wasting no time following through on a pledge to build a nationwide branch network.

Activist Cape Fear Bank Corp. shareholder Maurice J. Koury fielded an alternative slate of director nominees Thursday for the $464 million-asset bank in Wilmington, N.C.

Now that its long-delayed sale to a Maryland real estate investment trust has officially been called off, TierOne Corp. is focused on getting its house back in order.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

Hispanic consumers and business owners are not saving and borrowing as much as bankers had hoped.

Are Capital Corp. of the West's days as an independent company numbered?

Centrue Financial Corp. decided to make St. Louis its new home because its old one did not offer the same opportunity for growth.

TransCommunity Financial Corp. in Glen Allen, Va., said Monday that three shareholder groups that had previously objected to its agreement to sell itself to a "blank check" company in Alexandria have given the deal their blessing.

For Jeff Smith, the potential nightmare of identity theft hit home when his wife received a call in December from the couple's credit card company asking if she had made a $250 purchase at a Jack-in-the-Box in Ontario, Calif.

A South Dakota law that is scheduled to take effect July 1 could pave the way for state-chartered banks to start building more branches.

Liberty Financial Services Inc. of Sioux City, Iowa, plans to acquire Valley Bank, an Elk Point, S.D., unit of Haugo Bancshares Inc. of Sioux Falls.

Surety Bank in Fort Worth, which has been riddled with troubles in recent years, has a definitive agreement to sell itself to First Graham Bancorp Inc. for about $8.7 million, or $3 million above equity.

Click here to see the top 150 community banks with the largest consumer and industrial loan portfolios.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said Monday that it would use the proceeds from its sale of Stifel Financial Corp. stock to establish a subsidiary that would house and acquire the parent's nonaccruing loans.

TierOne Corp. of Lincoln, Neb., announced late Thursday that its board has terminated its planned sale to CapitalSource Inc., a Chevy Chase, Md., real estate investment trust.

Another group of wealthy Texans is buying up community banks.

Leesport Financial Corp. of Wyomissing, Pa., has changed its name to Vist Financial Corp. and said all its divisions will operate under that name.

First Financial Corp. of Elizabethtown, Ky., plans to acquire FSB Bancshares Inc. in Lanesville, Ind., for $14 million in cash.

Greater Community Bancorp's deal to sell itself to Oritani Financial Corp. had left investors in both companies so dissatisfied that executives feared it might fail to win shareholder approval.