Firstbank Corporation is the holding company for six separately chartered subsidiary banks offering services under the Firstbank banner; it also owns Keystone Community Bank, which it acquired in 2005. Through more than 50 branches in Michigan's Lower Peninsula, the banks attract deposits from area residents and businesses by providing standard services such as checking and savings accounts and CDs. The company also owns subsidiaries that provide real estate appraisal services, armored car services, and title insurance. Firstbank bought another Michigan-based bank holding company, ICNB Financial, parent of Ionia County Community Bank (now Firstbank - West Michigan), in 2007.

First PacTrust Bancorp was founded in 1941 as Rohr Employees Federal Credit Union; a handful of former Rohr executives remain on First PacTrust's board of directors. Executives, directors, and employees of First PacTrust own about a third of the company's stock.First PacTrust Bancorp is the holding company for Pacific Trust Bank, which offers standard deposit and loan services from about 10 branches in Southern California's Riverside and San Diego counties. Mortgages secured by one- to four-family residences account more than half of its loan portfolio; multifamily residential and commercial mortgages and business, construction, consumer, and land loans round out its lending activities.

Vestin Group is investin' in commercial real estate. Through subsidiaries, the firm originates, invests in, and services mortgages secured by commercial properties such as apartment complexes, office buildings, shopping centers, and assisted living facilities. Its Vestin Mortgage subsidiary manages two real estate investment trusts (REITs) and a real estate investment fund, all focusing on mortgages and deeds of trust. Vestin Originations issues and services short-term commercial mortgages and construction loans; most are between $2.5 million and $10 million and have one-year terms. The company's portfolio also consists of acquisition, development, land, and bridge loans. CEO Michael Shustek owns Vestin Group.

SBV&T knows the ABCs of banking. The corporation is the holding company for Springs Valley Bank & Trust, a community bank with about five locations in southern Indiana. Serving local individuals and businesses, the bank offers checking and savings accounts, loans, and mortgages, as well as trust and investment services. It is mainly a real estate lender, with residential and commercial mortgages making up most of the company's loan portfolio. Business, consumer, farmland, municipal, and construction and land development loans round out the bank's lending activities.

Peoples Financial helps people with their money. The company owns The Peoples Bank, which operates more than 15 branches along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The bank offers traditional checking and savings products. Real estate mortgages make up about nearly 65% of its loan portfolio, which also includes business, construction, and personal loans. Other offerings include fixed-rate mortgages, and asset management and trust services. Peoples caters to individuals and middle-market businesses in industries such as seafood, retail, hospitality, gaming, and construction. Chairman and CEO Chevis Swetman owns about 16% of the bank; his family has had an interest in the bank since its inception in 1896.

Arrow Financial has more than one shaft in its quiver. It's the holding company for two banks: Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company and Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company, which together operate more than 30 branches in five counties in eastern upstate New York. Targeting individuals and area businesses, the banks offer standard deposit products like checking, savings, and money market accounts; CDs; and IRAs. They also provide retirement, trust, and estate planning services and employee benefit plan administration. Residential mortgages make up the largest segment of Arrow Financial's loan portfolio (more than 40%); indirect and installment loans to individuals account for about 30%.

The underlying principles that have made Johnson Financial Group so successful are the same values that serve all of the Johnson family's enterprises. A high level of integrity and accountability and the strong belief in the dignity of all people are at the heart of everything we do; and, as a privately-held company, we also maintain the ability to focus on the next quarter century rather than the next quarter's earnings report. This way of doing business has stood the test of time, trends and challenges.

Deere & Company, founded in 1837 (collectively called John Deere), has grown from a one-man blacksmith shop into a corporation that today does business around the world and employs more than 50,000 people. Deere Credit Services, Inc. continues to be guided, as it has been since its beginning, by the core values exhibited by its founder: integrity, quality, commitment and innovation.

Intesa Sanpaolo is the result of the mega-merger of the former Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI, which joined forces at the beginning of 2007. The combined institution provides retail and commercial banking services through its Banca dei Territori division. The company operates from approximately 6,300 branches throughout Italy, plus more than 1,900 locations in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Mediterranean basin. Intesa Sanpaolo also performs investment banking, public and infrastructure finance, factoring, and trade financing services. The company's Eurizon Financial Group unit includes life insurer Eurizon Vita, asset manager Eurizon Capital, and financial planner Banca Fideuram.

Caisse centrale Desjardins (CCD) keeps tabs on Canada's largest financial cooperative, the Desjardins Group. CCD is the accounting arm of the Desjardins group, which was founded in 1900 to serve working-class Quebecois. The group serves some 6 million members and has more than 500 local cooperatives (or caisses populaires) and credit unions (caisses d'economie) in Quebec and Ontario. CCD also operates in the US through Desjardins Bank in Florida. The company's offerings include loans, credit cards, and savings accounts, as well as insurance, investment funds, securities brokerage, and asset management.

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