After Hurricane Katrina leveled much of the Gulf Coast, bankers in the hardest-hit areas cited the inability to communicate with key employees as one of the biggest obstacles to getting banks up and running again.

Midwest Banc Holdings Inc., of Melrose Park, Ill., announced Thursday that regulators have lifted the enforcement order under which it had been operating since March of last year.

The Association for Enterprise Opportunity in Arlington, Va., has a distinct mission: helping owners of the smallest businesses build credit histories, so they can qualify for traditional bank loans.

Under new ownership, California Savings Bank in San Francisco is expanding beyond its traditional thrift roots in search of bigger profits.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

Seven years after it went public, United Tennessee Bankshares Inc. in Newport says it can no longer justify the expense and plans to go private.

Banks mostly owned by Asians, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans grew faster than mainstream banks last year, and the trend is expected to continue as the minority population grows.

President Bush's efforts to overhaul regulation of the government-sponsored enterprises, eliminate estate taxes, and permanently reduce dividend, capital gains, and other taxes have been diverted by Hurricane Katrina recovery, a top administration official acknowledged for the first time Tuesday.

Metrobank in East Moline, Ill., is suddenly a hot commodity.

Less than a year after its founder and chief executive was forced to resign for approving questionable loans, Integrity Financial Corp. in Hickory, N.C., has decided to sell itself.

Though Columbus is Ohio's capital and its third-largest metropolitan market, with a population of 1.5 million, it is also its most underbanked.

Financial Institutions Inc. of Warsaw, N.Y., has sold the employee benefits and compensation consulting firm Burke Group Inc. to First Niagara Financial Group Inc.

Thirteen years ago Community Bank of Florida in Homestead was at the center of Hurricane Andrew's devastation, and dozens of volunteers, including many bankers, helped it get its offices up and running again and meet the basic needs of its employees.

First State Bancorp of Albuquerque has a simple growth strategy: beef up in and around its hometown and establish itself in other fast-growing markets of the Southwest.

Continuing the aggressive southern California expansion it has pursued almost without letup since it was founded, First Community Bancorp of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., is buying Cedars Bank in Los Angeles.

Equity analysts initiated coverage on a number of West Coast banking companies this week.

MIDWEST

About 1,000 EmigrantDirect.com customers in areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina found a surprise $1,000 deposit in their savings accounts last week, compliments of the online bank.

Profit Technologies Corp. seems to have taken to heart the old adage of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.