Though most banking companies are sorry to lose any customer, they work a little harder to keep big-dollar accounts; some maintain special call centers for these depositors, for example, and an officer is quick to call if they seem dissatisfied.

Having written for American Banker for 45 years now, I visited the New-York Historical Society’s new exhibit on Alexander Hamilton with special excitement.

Putting teenagers in charge of a bank branch may not be every banker’s idea of safety and soundness, but one bank in Chicago plans to give it a try.

A small Minnesota thrift company’s plan to delist its stock and take itself private has suddenly left it fighting for its independence.

Call it the requiem for a subsidy.

Western Sierra Bancorp of Cameron, Calif., has agreed to pay $23.1 million in cash and stock for Gold Country Bank in Marysville.

A popular game among bankers and analysts in the merger-happy Southeast is guessing which community bank will be the next to sell, and one name that comes up repeatedly is First Charter Corp. in Charlotte.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc. has cut its 2004 earnings estimate in half because it has decided to prepay $195 million of Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings.

D. Ben Berry says his company's regulatory obligations are getting so heavy that it is considering having customers absorb some of the expense.

WASHINGTON - House Republicans and the Small Business Administration are floating a compromise reauthorization bill that would eliminate once and for all the congressional credit subsidy for the agency's flagship 7(a) program.

Marshall & Ilsley Corp. will continue expanding outside its core Wisconsin market next year by building branches rather than pursuing bank deals, according to Dennis J. Kuester, its president and chief executive.

Independence Federal Savings Bank in Washington said Thursday that it lost $1.24 million in the third quarter and $2.5 million in the first nine months of the year.

MIDWEST

Argentine police are investigating three bomb explosions at branches of Citigroup Inc. and Grupo Financiero Galicia SA in Buenos Aires that killed one person.

Alabama National Bancorp, whose vice chairman has just resigned, said five employees are also resigning from the investment subsidiary he led and are joining a competitor.

ITLA Capital Corp. of La Jolla, Calif., is an unconventional lender in that it finances films, fast-food restaurants, and "fixer-upper" strip malls.

Pennsylvania remains one of the busiest states for bank mergers and acquisitions, but unlike in other hotbeds such as Florida and California, the deals are mostly in-market.

I have served on boards of directors three times, and each time my service ended abruptly. Once it was because I quit. Once it was because I spoke up. Once it was because I should have.

Capitol Federal Financial in Topeka, Kan., said a prepayment penalty it incurred for refinancing $2.4 billion in Federal Home Loan Bank advances wiped out profits in its fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.