Associated Banc-Corp (ASBC) of Green Bay, Wis., has hired two Bank of America (BAC) employees to lead a new office in Michigan as it looks to make commercial real estate loans in the Detroit area.

The state of Indiana has tapped a former banker to help restore credibility to its beleaguered revenue department.

The founder and chief executive of Vantage Point Bank in Fort Washington, Pa., has resigned after more than four years with the bank.

The Senate is preparing to consider legislation that would allow credit unions to engage in more commercial lending, a proposal that the industry has long championed. This proposal is a really bad idea, but because of the political constituency behind credit unions it may actually be passed into law. In the event, the National Credit Union Association and the U.S. taxpayer may be facing significant losses in the future.

An employee stole $301,000 from Liberty Bell Bank. Because the bank did not have insurance coverage, the theft took a bite out of the bank's bottom line. Instead of reporting net income of $375,000 for 2011, Liberty Bell's full-year profit was $74,000.

The Treasury Department has not said if it intends to auction off more stakes it owns in community banks, but Yadkin Valley Financial (YAVY) in Elkin, N.C., wants to be ready in case it does.

A recent credit union conference in Chicago featured a presentation of what a futuristic branch could look like.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK) in Little Rock said its first-quarter earnings increased 23% from the same period in 2011, to $18 million, on the strength of improved efficiency, solid growth in fee income and a continued decline in problem assets.

The FDIC is auctioning a collection of jewelry it inherited from the failed Tennessee Commerce Bank, marking the latest in a history of odd assets the agency has inherited through receivership. Ranging from sports franchises and film rights to casinos and taxis, the FDIC has unloaded scores of strange items over the years.

In a letter to Senate leaders, the head of a Glendale, Calif., credit union broke with the rest of the industry on legislation that would allow credit unions to make more commercial loans.

The board of directors at VIST Financial (VIST) in Wyomissing, Pa., has formed a special litigation committee to investigate shareholder claims that the board breached its fiduciary duty when it agreed to sell VIST to an upstate New York company for $86 million.

Independent Bank Corp. (INDB) of Rockland, Mass., reported that its first-quarter income rose 9% from a year earlier, to $12.2 million, as customer growth led to increased loans and fee income.

The large municipalities can leverage their primary banking relationships to help their communities — as opposed to seeing all of the benefits accruing to the too-big-to-fail financial conglomerates.

The Treasury Department's recent auction of preferred shares in six banks may signal that the agency has finally found a path to end its bank investments under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Shares of Southcoast Financial (SOCB) surged more than 50% Thursday after the Mt. Pleasant, S.C., banking company reported its first quarterly profit in nearly two years.

Consumers are stashing more money than ever into bank accounts but the surge of deposits is not translating into more fees for banks.

Jeff Gerhart, who took over as chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America last month, also chairs a small bank in Nebraska. In a wide-ranging interview, the fourth-generation banker discusses competing against bigger banks and collaboration with the American Bankers Association.

NCAL Bancorp in Los Angeles and Raton Capital in New Mexico have been hit with enforcement orders from the Federal Reserve Board that require them to stabilize their ailing bank subsidiaries.

Pacific Capital's calculus was simple: Texas financier Gerald Ford, majority owner of the California bank, decided its shares would never trade as high as the price UnionBanCal was willing to pay.