The Small Business Administration this week unveiled a loan program designed to encourage lending to military veterans and their families who own or want to start a business.

People are already calling a northern Virginia bank in organization "the Little League bank."

First National Bank of St. Louis in Clayton, Mo., has announced an agreement to buy First National Bank of Millstadt, Ill., in a deal worth $21 million.

Beverly Hills Bancorp's stock rose Thursday on news that the Calabasas, Calif., company is considering selling itself.

United Community Banks Inc. in Blairsville, Ga., could be on the hook for millions of dollars in bad loans after it unwittingly became tangled up in a fraudulent real estate scheme.

American National Bank of Texas, a Terrell unit of ANB Holding Co. Ltd., said Wednesday that it plans to buy Bryant-Irvin Bancshares Inc. in Benbrook.

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Innovative Bank in Oakland, Calif., says it is well on its way to complying with a regulatory order to strengthen its management, clean up its loan portfolio, and improve Bank Secrecy Act compliance.

Bryn Mawr Trust Co. in Pennsylvania already brings in about one-third of its income from wealth management, but it aims to do better.

MIDWEST

First Busey Corp. and Main Street Trust Inc. said Tuesday that they would divest five overlapping branches in Champaign County, Ill., as a condition of their pending merger.

A federal program that awards grants to banks and other lenders that invest in neighborhood redevelopment could soon get its biggest funding boost in years.

Mutual Community Savings Bank Inc. of Durham, N.C., said it expects to receive to cease-and-desist order from state and federal regulators that would require it to improve its management and board oversight, boost capital, and develop a plan to increase earnings.

In the dog-eat-dog business of banking, a North Carolina start-up has a plan for setting itself apart: making loans to providers of pet care.

EDITOR'S NOTE

Capital Corp. of the West in Merced, Calif., said Monday that it is expanding farther south in the state's Central Valley with a deal to buy the 11 California branches of National Bank of Arizona, a unit of Zions Bancorp., for $27.4 million.

Congress is considering legislation that would give banks tax breaks for setting up accounts to help low-income people save for home purchases, business start-ups, or further education.

Two Massachusetts mutual thrifts have announced that they plan to merge.

United Security Bancshares Inc. of Thomasville, Ala., said that it has discovered evidence of potential fraud in a consumer finance unit.