Two North Carolina community banks are teaming up to create a $2 billion-asset company that their top executives hope will be a more formidable competitor against the large ones that dominate the state.

Nara Bancorp in Los Angeles can now pay dividends and issue trust-preferred securities without prior regulatory approval, it said, but still must abide by other restrictions of a 2005 regulatory order.

With its victory in the bidding war for Fina Bancorp Inc. in Valparaiso, Ind., 1st Source Corp. would vault to the top deposit-share position in one of its markets and the No. 2 position in another.

The breakup of the corrugated paper manufacturer Temple-Inland Inc. could create a significant acquisition opportunity for a large bank looking to bulk up in Texas and California.

SouthCrest Financial Group Inc. in Fayetteville, Ga., announced plans Monday to acquire the $68 million-asset Bank of Chickamauga for $18 million.

The Greenlining Institute, a Berkeley, Calif., advocacy group, plans to protest the Dutch farm lender Rabobank Group's acquisition of Mid-State Bank of Arroyo Grande, Calif., today.

1st Pacific Bancorp in San Diego has made a deal — its first — to buy the $125 million-asset Landmark National Bank in Solana Beach, Calif., for about $24.6 million in cash and stock.

In what would be the first whole-bank acquisition in its 86-year history, Ridgewood Savings Bank in New York said it is buying City and Suburban Financial Corp. of Yonkers, N.Y., for $119 million in cash.

First Bank and Trust in Brookings, S.D., has developed a prepaid debit card product that could open a door for community banks to gain new customers and boost fee income.

WSFS Financial Corp. of Wilmington, Del., said Thursday that it is setting in motion a succession plan it developed five years ago.

Citizens Union Bancorp of Shelbyville, Ky., is acquiring the $45 million-asset Fort Knox National Bancorp Inc. of Radcliff, Ky.

Independence Federal Savings Bank in Washington has corrected at least one deficiency brought up by Nasdaq last month but still remains subject to delisting for not holding a shareholder meeting at least once a year.

Community Bank System Inc. of DeWitt, N.Y., announced Thursday that it has agreed to buy Hand Benefits and Trust Inc., an employee benefit plan and trust services provider in Houston.

The Credit Union Journal

Two months after being appointed acting chief executive officer at First Niagara Financial Group Inc., John R. Koelmel has officially been named CEO of the Lockport, N.Y., company and its subsidiary, First Niagara Bank.

Greater Atlantic Financial Corp. in Reston, Va., said Wednesday that trading of its stock has been suspended because it failed to maintain the minimum $10 million of shareholders' equity required for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Market.

SOUTHEAST

Its recent deal for Capital Bancorp Inc. in Nashville extends $2.6 billion-asset Renasant Corp.'s march from sluggish markets in its home state of Mississippi to faster-growing regions across its borders.

1st Source Corp. of South Bend, Indiana, has agreed to buy Fina Bancorp Inc. of Valparaiso for $135 million in cash and stock.