In a 7-to-0 decision, Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court ruled against the Pennsylvania Bankers Association and four banking companies that were seeking to block two credit unions from adopting five Philadelphia-area counties as their field of membership.

Federal regulators are worried about banks like First National Bank of Artesia in New Mexico.

The two banking trade groups in Texas are talking about merging, though observers say a deal is far from imminent and likely will not happen without a fight.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

Pacific Capital Bancorp in Santa Barbara, Calif., said Wednesday that it expects income from its tax-refund anticipation loans to decline over the next few years as a result of a change in its contract with Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.

West Virginia’s governor is expected to sign legislation this month that would limit the fees banks could collect on gift cards and force them to turn over unused gift card dollars to the state treasurer.

Beverly Hills Bancorp Inc. in Calabasas, Calif., said it will restate its 2004 earnings, because it incorrectly calculated its tax benefits for that year. The $1.4 billion-asset Beverly Hills said late Monday that it had overstated its deferred-tax asset by about $1.6 million. As a result, the company said, it overstated its net income, assets, and stockholders' equity by the same amount.

WASHINGTON - National Credit Union Administration chairman JoAnn Johnson said it has no intention of imposing Community Reinvestment Act-like regulations on credit unions.

After months of prompting from Gulf Coast bankers and industry trade groups - and with an apparent push from the White House - the Small Business Administration has agreed to let banks and other lenders help it process disaster loan applications.

Synergy Financial Group Inc.'s transformation, starting with its then relatively unusual conversion from a credit union to a mutual thrift in 1998 and culminating with a second-step conversion in 2004, gave it a mountain of capital to use for growth.

After helping Placer Sierra Bancshares in Sacramento nearly quadruple its assets by financing a string of deals, a San Francisco private equity fund is looking to repeat that performance.

Michael W. Gullion, the founder and former chairman and chief executive of Gold Banc Corp. in Leawood, Kansas, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of embezzling $1.9 million from the company between 2001 and 2003.

Community bankers are much less nervous about mutual funds and brokerage firms than they were five years ago.

Continuing its expansion into new markets in the Southeast, Cadence Bank of Starkville, Miss., said it plans to open a branch near Nashville.

SouthFirst Bancshares Inc. of Sylacauga, Ala., is going private.

Allan R. Dennison's two years at AmeriServ Financial in Johnstown, Pa., have been eventful.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

Greater Atlantic Financial Corp.'s stock soared Thursday on speculation that the struggling Reston, Va., thrift holding company could be on the block.

Bank Holdings Inc. of Reno said Thursday that it earned $579,000 in the fourth quarter, 74% more than a year earlier.