Toronto-Dominion Bank's $3.8 billion deal for 51% of Banknorth Group Inc. is a bet that both companies will be more effective acquirers in the United States together than either could be on its own.

First National Lincoln Corp. of Damariscotta, Maine, plans to buy FNB Bankshares of Bar Harbor for $47.9 million of stock.

Eager to expand into faster-growing markets, WesBanco Inc. of Wheeling, W.Va., has struck its second deal in four months for an Ohio bank.

Georgian Bancorp of Atlanta said Wednesday that it is going private to cut costs and ease regulatory burdens.

Proposed changes to Community Reinvestment Act guidelines would give rural banks and thrifts credit for investing in all types of development projects, not just those that benefit low- and moderate-income residents.

MIDWEST

In leading a 14-bank syndicate that will provide a $15 million line of credit to CSX Corp., a minority-owned Atlanta bank hopes to capture a larger piece of the railroad giant's business.

Bankers who are not involved in international banking think of it as a glamour business. You fly across the ocean first-class, and when you arrive you are put up at the best hotels, eat at the best restaurants, and meet the cream of the business community.

Bank Holdings Inc. has found a relatively simple way to expand into California.

Perhaps encouraged by the prices Florida banks are fetching these days, Bay Financial Savings Bank in Tampa has put itself up for sale.

Ongoing budget problems have forced the Small Business Administration over the past year to eliminate funding for women's business centers, consolidate several regional offices, and even briefly shut down its flagship 7(a) lending program.

AgStar Financial Services is willing to top Rabobank Group's bid for Farm Credit Services of America by $50 million. But the question remains, is it able?

Brian L. McDonnell, who has run Navy Federal Credit Union, the world's largest credit union, for the past nine years, will retire Dec. 31.

A California subprime auto lender said Friday that it is unloading the last of its deposits and that it will rely on the capital markets to fund its lending.

Crescent Banking Co. of Jasper, Ga., has agreed to buy the $66 million-asset Futurus Financial Services Inc. of Alpharetta, Ga., for $10 million.

A trade group representing check cashers says it is getting ready to introduce an interest-bearing, federally insured deposit account that would be linked to existing prepaid debit cards popular with the unbanked and low-income consumers.

West Coast Bank is one of a handful of banks making it more affordable for mom-and-pop coffee shops, restaurants, and hardware stores to sell gift cards.

Old National Bancorp of Evansville, Ind., said Thursday that it had hired the chief executive of KeyCorp's McDonald Investments Inc. as its own CEO.

The Monday morning meeting at Charlotte State Bank in Port Charlotte, Fla., was far from typical this week, according to the bank's president, Charles G. Brown 3d.