Hanmi Financial Corp. in Los Angeles announced late Thursday that Sung Won Sohn is resigning as its president and chief executive.

Surety Capital Corp. in Fort Worth has filed for bankruptcy protection to clear a path for a sale of the company, according to a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

MIDWEST

Delanco Federal Savings Bank in Delanco, N.J., has agreed to get approval from the Office of Thrift Supervision before making or modifying any commercial loans.

In a regulatory filing last week disclosing its plan to more than double its stake in a California thrift company, FBOP Corp. in Oak Park, Ill., said that it intends to be a “passive” investor.

As President Bush was signing a bill last week that requires fuel producers to increase their use of ethanol fivefold over the next 15 years, the banking industry and the Farm Credit System were sparring over which lenders are best qualified to finance the construction of ethanol plants.

The Small Business Administration is making a last-ditch attempt to drive up participation in Export Express, its export loan program for small businesses.

A Leesburg, Va., start-up bank that has fallen short of its capital-raising goals is selling its assets to Southern National Bancorp of Virginia Inc. in Charlottesville.

Last year the Christmas party for State Bank and Trust in Fargo, N.D., had a "Deal or No Deal" theme, with all the employees getting $1,000 to keep. At this year's party they got $1,000 to give.

Two companies — Lakeland Bancorp Inc. in Oak Ridge, N.J., and Green Bankshares Inc. in Greeneville, Tenn. — are warning of credit troubles that will affect fourth-quarter earnings.

During a year in which community banks have had little to cheer about, hundreds got some good news last week when Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox told a congressional panel he is recommending yet another extension for small, public companies to comply with what is widely viewed as the most onerous provision in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

NEW ENGLAND

Shares of Macatawa Bank Corp. plunged in heavy trading Wednesday after the Holland, Mich., company disclosed that more than one-third of its residential land development loans have been classified "impaired."

Legacy Bancorp Inc. in Pittsfield, Mass., announced Tuesday that it would trim 5% of its staff and take a pretax charge of about $438,000 this quarter to pay for the severance expenses.

It has been an up-and-down year for start-up banks.

Community banks did not create the subprime mortgage mess that is leading to waves of foreclosures, but one prominent banker believes they can be part of the solution.