Tower Financial Corp. in Fort Wayne, Ind., has announced it will take a charge in the third quarter to cover several problem residential construction loans.

BCSB Bankcorp Inc. in Baltimore has announced the approval by its shareholders and depositors of its plan to convert to a fully public company.

Lakeland Financial Corp. in Warsaw, Ind., said Monday that third-quarter net income fell 6%, to $4.4 million, on deteriorating credit quality.

Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc. of Philadelphia said Friday that it has cut 40 jobs, or about 5% of its work force, to improve its profitability.

Another Midwestern banking company is targeting Phoenix to help fuel its growth and, like other recent arrivals in the area, intends to court the wealthy.

With its $105 million deal for Slade's Ferry Bancorp., Independent Bank Corp. in Rockland, Mass., said it is accelerating a plan to expand southeast into the state's fastest-growing region.

Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp Inc. in Harrisburg on Friday said it had created the position of chief operating officer and named an executive from Sterling Financial Corp. to the role.

FNB Corp.'s deal with Virginia Financial Group Inc. was billed as a merger of equals, but a dissident group says it is an outright sale that significantly shortchanges FNB's shareholders.

A major shareholder of TransCommunity Financial Corp. in Glen Allen, Va., has told the company's board of directors he intends to vote against its pending acquisition by Community Bankers Acquisition Corp. in Alexandria, Va., according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday.

Towne Bancorp Inc.'s stock plunged Thursday after the Mesa, Ariz., after the company announced that both its president and chairman had resigned.

Is Center Bancorp Inc. in Union, N.J., trying to back out of its deal to acquire Beacon Trust Co.?

As a correspondent banker, Cliff McCauley has spent nearly half his life working with community banks; now, for the next year, the 51-year-old executive will be leading them in Texas.

East West Bancorp Inc. bought a small bank in California's High Desert region partly to broaden its customer base beyond its traditional Chinese-American clientele in and around Los Angeles.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

Yielding to pressure from its largest investor, Royal Financial Inc. of Chicago named a new chairman and said that it would consider selling itself.

Cardinal Financial Corp. said a $3.5 million charge related to a disputed escrow transaction could force the $1.8 billion-asset McLean, Va., company to post a third-quarter loss.

Save "No pain, no gain" for the inspirational speeches; the cynical truth is that someone's pain is usually someone else's gain.

Monarch Community Bancorp Inc. in Coldwater, Mich., said Wednesday that a shareholder vote to take the company private was not approved and the stock will continue to be listed on the Nasdaq.

Cardinal Financial Corp. said a $3.5 million charge related to a disputed escrow transaction could force the $1.8 billion-asset McLean, Va., company to post a third-quarter loss.

PSB Group Inc. of Madison Heights, Mich., has increased its loan-loss provision in response to deteriorating credit quality, and it has postponed its plan to go private.