Top executives at a bank acquired by North Valley Bancorp last year have decided to start their own bank.

Amcore Financial Inc. of Rockford, Ill., has entered into a written agreement with the office of the Comptroller of the Currency to develop a consumer compliance program.

Wilshire Bancorp Inc. of Los Angeles announced Thursday that it had opened its first branch outside of the Los Angeles area.

America's Community Bankers has added 26 banks to its Nasdaq bank index.

A decision by the industry's federal regulator to quash conversion votes at two Texas credit unions could have a chilling effect on credit unions interested in becoming banks, lawyers and consultants say.

Three weeks after it cut short and rescheduled its annual meeting, Independence Federal Savings Bank in Washington, D.C., said it has been postponed indefinitely.

MIDWESTCitizens Banking Corp. of Flint, Mich., has made Stephen Figliuolo its corporate risk officer and Jeffrey A. Powell its controller and principal accounting officer.Mr. Figliuolo, an executive vice president, was the manager of loan and productions operations for the operations and technology management team.

Under threat of a Nasdaq stock delisting, a Colorado banking company has dismissed three of its executives from the board's compensation and nominating committees.

Citizens South Banking Corp. in Gastonia, N.C., is buying the $150 million-asset Trinity Bank in Monroe, N.C., for $35.5 million.

Taylor Capital Group Inc. is picking its battles in the Chicago market.

For several years California banks have had to deal with skyrocketing costs for workers' compensation insurance because of the continued rise in the cost of claims.

Though Flag Financial Corp. is based in Atlanta, the majority of its assets and branches are still in central and western Georgia, closer to its former home of LaGrange.

Community Capital Bancshares Inc. of Albany, Ga., has purchased the leading mortgage company in Charleston, S.C., and said it plans to start a bank there.

For banks, college age has typically been the point at which young adults start getting treated like prospective customers, a pattern that marketing experts have criticized as out of step with other industries' concerted efforts to gain inroads with brand-savvy adolescents.

Joining a growing list of out-of-state banking companies attracted by Florida's rapid growth, Northwest Bancorp Inc. of Warren, Pa., plans to buy its way into the state with an $11.8 million all-cash deal for a small company outside Miami.

Commercial Capital Bancorp Inc. of Irvine, Calif., said Wednesday that it had acquired North American Exchange Co. of Walnut Creek, Calif.

MIDWEST

Community banks that make rural home loans could soon get a much-needed liquidity boost — but they might not like where it is coming from.

To expand its operations in southwestern Indiana, German American Bancorp in Jasper is acquiring the $35.3 million-asset PCB Holding Co. of Tell City for $6.7 million in cash and stock.

UCBH Holdings Inc. in San Francisco plans to enter another Chinese-American market by buying the $164.3 million-asset Pacifica Bancorp Inc. in Bellevue, Wash., for $40.3 million in cash and stock.