Operating a community bank in foreclosure-ravaged South Florida is challenging. Starting one just before the financial crisis hit is even more so.

Old Line Bancshares Inc. in Bowie, Md., plans to acquire Maryland Bankcorp Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $20 million.

Atlantic Coast Federal Corp. in Waycross, Ga., has appointed veteran banker Jay S. Sidhu as executive chairman of its thrift, mirroring a position he has held at the company since May.

Patriot National Bancorp Inc. in Stamford, Conn., has extended the deadline for its recapitalization deal for a second time.

The Office of Thrift Supervision has denied United Western Bancorp Inc.'s request to make payments on its line of credit with JPMorgan Chase & Co.

MIDWEST

Premier Financial Bancorp Inc. in Huntington, W.Va., plans to roll up five of its unit banks into one. The $1.1 billion-asset multibank holding company said Tuesday it would merge these units: Boone County Bank in Madison, W.Va.; First Central Bank in Philippi, W.Va.; Traders Bank in Ravenswood, W.Va.; Adams National Bank in Washington; and Consolidated Bank and Trust in Richmond, Va. The combined entity would have $800 million of assets.

The banker-examiner relationship has not been this strained for 20 years, but a provision in the Dodd-Frank Act will alleviate some pressure on the examiners.

The bottom line: If bankers want to change their exams they will have to go toe to toe with their examiners, pointing out specifically what they deem unreasonable. Bankers will have to take their complaints up the chain of command.

The Connecticut attorney general said Wednesday he is investigating First Niagara Financial Group's proposed acquisition of NewAlliance Bancshares Inc.

Your level of preparedness can be the difference between an unforeseen event being a setback or an opportunity.

In a letter Wednesday, Blumenthal asked the banks to provide his office with information about the merger and justification for it.

New Century Financial is taking the concept of trying to succeed where others have failed to an extreme. The commercial finance company, based in The Woodlands, Texas, filed a de novo bank application in July with state officials at a time when startup banks are nearly extinct.

The $3 billion-asset company filed an exchange offer memorandum Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, commencing offers to exchange newly issued shares of common stock for outstanding shares of Series A and B preferred stock.

Cascade Bancorp's lead investors are giving the company two more weeks to find additional capital.

Stonegate Bank in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said Tuesday it has agreed to buy Southwest Capital Bank in Fort Myers, Fla., for $9.4 million in an all-stock transaction.

Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. has agreed to acquire American National Bank of Fremont, the Nebraska companies announced Tuesday.

Carver Bancorp Inc., owner of the nation's largest African- and Caribbean American-run bank, reduced the dividend rate it pays to the government by shifting to another federal program.

Old Florida National Bank of Orlando and Mercantile Capital Corp. of Altamonte Springs, Fla., announced a deal in which Mercantile would become a subsidiary of Old Florida.

Eugene P. Heytow, chairman of Amalgamated Bank of Chicago, died Aug. 26. He was 76.