Fulton Financial Corp.'s deal for Columbia Bancorp has the makings of a perfect marriage.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Pittsfield, Mass., said Wednesday that it lost $4.6 million in the second quarter, primarily because of an $8.6 million charge it took for the previously announced termination of its employee stock ownership program.

Guaranty Bank and Trust Co. in Denver is being sued for allegedly assisting a former money manager, Will Hoover, in swindling his customers out of nearly $12 million, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

Except for their names, BankAtlantic Bancorp of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Commerce Bancorp of Cherry Hill, N.J., are remarkably similar.

TIB Financial Corp. in Naples, Fla., announced record earnings for the second quarter: $2.18 million, up 74% from the same period in 2004.

Words to the wise banker, compliments of Credit Union National Association president Daniel A. Mica: pressing for the elimination of credit unions’ tax exemption will backfire.

Valley National Bancorp. of Wayne, N.J., decided in May that it needed to solidify its Bank Secrecy Act compliance, and for talent it turned to two competitors and the U.S. Air Force.

Independent Bank Corp., of Ionia, Mich., reported second-quarter earnings Monday of $12.1 million, up 34% from the same quarter last year.

Hovde Financial Inc. of Washington is launching a $70 million-plus private equity fund focused primarily on the banking industry.

Thirty-eight banks and thrifts made Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP’s second annual “Sm-All Stars” list, and 16 of them are headquartered in California.

Wilmington Trust Corp. said Friday that its second-quarter profits rose 11% from a year earlier, to $40.4 million, driven by its banking business and an improving net interest margin.

Austin Bank of Chicago has come up with some novel answers to the touchy succession questions confronting many community banks.

Though flush with capital after it survived a near-death experience three years ago, City Holding Co. has been in no rush to build assets.

Second-quarter results reported Thursday by TD Banknorth Inc. and Hudson United Bancorp may have buttressed the case for the merger deal they announced this month.

Six weeks ago CityBank of Lynnwood, Wash., was telling investors it planned to build Diligenz Inc. into the nation's premier provider of Uniform Commercial Code-related services.

Like most community banks, Union National Community Bank in Mount Joy, Pa., is constantly on the lookout for low-cost funding.

WESTTemecula Valley Bancorp of Temecula, Calif., has hired Michael J. Curran as its chief risk officer and a senior vice president.

To capitalize on consolidation, a longtime Tennessee banker has set up a fund to invest in start-up banks aiming to capture runoff from merging banks.