WASHINGTON — The Office of Thrift Supervision and several trade groups are supporting a New Jersey thrift's attempt to sue a depositor to prevent him from seizing control of the institution and forcing it to go public.

First Midwest Bancorp Inc. of Itasca, Ill., said Thursday that John M. O'Meara, its chief executive officer, has been elected chairman as well. He succeeded his brother, Robert P. O'Meara, who is now the vice chairman.

Robert M. Pardes has resigned as the chief lending officer of OceanFirst Bank in Toms River, N.J., and the president of its troubled mortgage unit, Columbia Home Loans LLC of Valhalla, N.Y.

Harleysville National Corp. had gone three years without making an acquisition before striking what it described as the "perfect" deal Wednesday.

Attorneys for the Pennsylvania Banking Department and the state's Department of Banking told the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that bankers ought to end their legal challenge to credit unions' tax exemption and pursue legislation instead.

WASHINGTON - An effort to grant automakers and other commercial firms a waiver from a ban on commercially owned industrial loan companies is facing increasing scrutiny.

PL Capital Group of Naperville, Ill., has voiced its opposition to proposed changes in the stock option plans of Lake Shore Bancorp Inc. of Dunkirk, N.Y.

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Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Pittsfield, Mass., moved closer Tuesday to its goal of becoming a regional banking company with a deal to enter Vermont.

Danversbank in Massachusetts caters to business owners, but many of those customers have personal accounts elsewhere, often at online banks that pay high rates on savings accounts.

Baylake Corp. of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., said Monday that it lost $2.3 million in the first quarter after it was forced to boost its loan-loss provision to nearly $6 million.

First Keystone Corp. in Berwick, Pa., said Friday that it has a deal to buy the $133.6 million-asset Pocono Community Bank in Stroudsburg for about $33.6 million in cash and stock.

Mid-Wisconsin Financial Services Inc. of Medford said it would take an after-tax charge of 22 cents a share this quarter, because of bad loans.

Even bank trade groups concede that a bill being proposed in New York to tax federally charted credit unions could not override a federal law granting the tax exemption.

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The tornado that destroyed most of Greensburg, Kan., last week also leveled two of the town's three bank branches.

San Antonio postal workers who deliver mail to USAA Federal Savings Bank are carrying lighter loads these days.

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BancTrust Financial Group Inc. in Alabama entered Florida in 2002 to take advantage of booming growth there, and for more than two years the Florida operation drove its profits.

Atlantic Coast Federal Corp. of Waycross, Ga., plans to convert from a mutual holding company structure to a fully public company.