County Bank, a California community bank whose parent has $1.3 billion of assets, says it has started a wealth management division and opened an office in Fresno to offer one-on-one service to millionaires.

Virtually every top bank executive will tell you that just about the toughest part of the job is firing people.

Gold Banc Corp.'s agreement to pay $16 million to settle a suit claiming it overcharged agricultural borrowers will probably force a revision in its $672 million deal to sell itself to an investor group.

Mich. bank returns to start-up strategy in NW

Amcore Financial Inc. of Rockford, Ill., announced Monday that it plans to spend $55 million to further its branch expansion.

About 30 miles north of Charlotte, the home of some of the nation’s largest banks, is the former textile town of Mooresville, N.C., which most banks largely ignored — until recently.

A Native American banking group wants more tribes to start their own banks, and it is bringing that message to the people.

International Bancshares Corp. of Laredo, Tex., reported second-quarter earnings of $26.2 million, 6.9% less than a year earlier.

Shareholders of Sobieski Bancorp of South Bend, Ind., have approved its sale to $ 428-million MFB Corp. of Mishawka, Ind.

Deal activity in banking has been hot lately, but a continued decline in bank stocks is eroding the takeover premiums built into the prices of potential targets.

Wachovia Corp. and SouthTrust Corp. said Thursday that they would make $75 billion in community loans and investments in nine southeastern states over five years after they merge later this year.

S.Y. Bancorp Inc. of Louisville announced Thursday that it had agreed to buy 9.9% of Indiana Business Bank, an Indianapolis start-up expected to open by yearend.

Talk about good timing.

United Community Banks Inc. of Blairsville, Ga., has agreed to buy the $64 million-asset Eagle National Bank in Stockbridge for $12.5 million.

Rabobank Group’s deal to buy one of the largest lenders in the Farm Credit System is causing a fair amount of anxiety in rural America.

In deal-crazy Florida, BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. has largely avoided buying banks in recent years.

One of the most valuable assets any bank can have is loyalty - loyalty of customers and loyalty of employees.

F.N.B. Corp. of Hermitage, Pa., entered Florida long after Fifth Third Bancorp, but the much smaller F.N.B. was far more aggressive in building assets and deposits there.

Fifth Third Bancorp has made no secret about its ambitions in the Southeast, and it unveiled a deal Monday — for First National Bankshares of Florida Inc. — that would significantly strengthen it there.