Reeling from the impact of a "sophisticated loan scheme" that will deplete much of its capital, Sterling Financial Corp. in Lancaster, Pa., may have no choice but to sell itself, analysts said.

Coast Financial Holdings Inc. has lost more than 80% of its market value for the year, and recent events suggest that its problems are nowhere near resolution.

For the last three years the Small Business Administration has been funding its 7(a) and 504 loan programs with user fees charged to borrowers and lenders, eliminating the need for a congressional subsidy that been used for that purpose for five decades.

Two states are considering duplicating a program in New York that rewards banks with government deposits for opening branches in neighborhoods with little or no banking services.

BOK Financial Corp. in Tulsa announced Wednesday that it has a deal to buy the troubled United Banks of Colorado Inc. in Englewood for $43 million in cash.

MIDWEST

Six years after their merger of equals was called off, BancTrust Financial Group Inc. in Mobile, Ala., has agreed to buy the $905 million-asset Peoples BancTrust Co. Inc. of Selma, Ala., for $153 million in cash and stock.

Private-equity firms are betting that current industry challenges will create opportunities to buy into struggling banking companies at bargain prices, and at least two have recruited experienced bankers to help.

OceanFirst Financial Corp. in Toms River, N.J., said it will close its troubled mortgage unit, Columbia Home Loans LLC, rather than sell it.

First State Bancshares Inc. in Farmington, Mo., is entering two counties with a deal to buy Progress Bancshares Inc. in Sullivan.

The former president and chief executive of a banking company UCBH Holdings Inc. recently acquired has joined the San Francisco company's board.

Only seven days after announcing April 17 that it would adopt a new accounting standard to restructure its balance sheet, Frontier Financial Corp. in Everett, Wash., reversed its decision.

FNB United Corp. of Asheboro, N.C., said that it would change the name of its subsidiary bank to CommunityONE Bank on June 4.

Flush with $1.2 billion of new capital from its initial public offering, Third Federal Savings and Loan Association in Cleveland is eyeing an expansion in Florida.

Its drive for an industrial loan charter stalled, the commercial lender CapitalSource Inc. of Chevy Chase, Md., found a new route to diversifying its funding: buying a Nebraska thrift.

For more information on this data, visit Novantas LLC and Market Rates Insight.

Southside Bancshares Inc. in Tyler, Tex., is entering the Fort Worth and Arlington markets with a $36.5 million cash deal for Forth Worth Bancshares Inc.

Boardwalk Bancorp. in Linwood, N.J., said Friday that it will revise its first-quarter results to a net loss of $664,000 because it is reversing a decision to adopt a new accounting rule. In April it reported a first-quarter profit of $647,000, or 15 cents a share.

After setting up shop in six new markets across the country last year, The Bankers Bank in Atlanta is readying itself for even more expansion.