Nara Bancorp of Los Angeles said Thursday that it had made a deal to buy a branch in Brick Township, N.J., from a New Jersey bank.

An Alexandria, Va., company formed last year to buy community banks says it has struck its first deal.

At most banks relationship managers receive a salary and commission for bringing in loans and deposits and are not penalized when customers take their business elsewhere.

NEW ENGLAND

Ameriana Bancorp in New Castle, Ind., has resolved a long-running legal battle related to a pool of leases it acquired that turned out to be fraudulent.

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida's earnings, stock price, and credit quality have suffered during a statewide housing slump, but Dennis S. Hudson 3rd, its chairman and chief executive, says he is not rattled.

First Federal Bankshares Inc. of Sioux City, Iowa, has renamed its First Federal Bank subsidiary Vantus Bank.

Until a few weeks ago St. Martin Bank and Trust in St. Martinville, La., expected to use trust-preferred securities to finance its most recent buyout deal.

The federal government has taken over three financially troubled credit unions this year, and data shows two of them had violated regulatory limits on business lending.

Canandaigua National Corp. in Canandaigua, N.Y., has agreed to buy Genesee Valley Trust Co. in Pittsford, N.Y., for an undisclosed amount.

Texas Capital Bank in Dallas has started an initiative to lend to small businesses in low- and moderate-income areas.

SCBT Financial Corp. in Columbia, S.C., said Thursday that it has a deal that would give it entry into North Carolina.

Susquehanna Bancshares in Lititz, Pa., has expanded its potential borrowings from a Federal Home Loan bank by 67%, to $1 billion, simply by switching one of its bank charters to another state.

The average salary for chief executive officers at community banks rose 5.2% this year, to $213,000, according to the annual compensation and benefits survey America's Community Bankers released Wednesday.

MIDWEST

Over the last six years Central National Bank and Trust Co. in Enid, Okla., has reported steady growth in fee income, in part because of its marketing of gift, payroll, and remittance cards in communities where it operates.

St. Martin Bank and Trust in St. Martinville, La., said it has agreed to buy American Bank in Welsh, La., for about $15 million in cash.