SouthFirst Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for SouthFirst Bank, which provides general banking services in Alabama. The bank primarily generates deposits and originates various loans. Its deposit products include NOW accounts, money-market accounts, passbook savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. The banks loan portfolio comprises one-to-four family, owner-occupied, and residential mortgage; fixed-rate and adjustable-rate-mortgage residential construction loans; consumer loans, including savings account loans; and loans secured by second mortgage on real estate, such as home improvement and home equity loans.

IMH Financial deals in real estate lending and investment mainly in the southwestern US. Although its family of companies historically have focused on acquiring and originating short-term bridge loans to enable commercial real estate development and construction, market conditions -- mainly lack of mortgage capital availability -- are prompting the company to change course. Its focus now is to make investments across a more diverse set of target assets, including interim loans used to pay off construction or property loans and whole commercial real estate mortgage loans. Its primary markets include Arizona, California, and Texas. IMH filed to go public in the latter half of 2010.

Easton Bancorp, that is. Easton Bancorp is the holding company for Easton Bank & Trust, which serves Talbot and Caroline counties on Maryland's eastern shore. From about a half dozen offices, the bank provides standard retail products and services, including checking and savings accounts, IRAs, and credit cards to local businesses and individuals. It uses funds from deposits to write mostly commercial and real estate loans; other offerings include consumer loans and agricultural loans. Easton Bank & Trust also operates under the names Denton Bank & Trust and Oxford Bank & Trust. Easton Bancorp is taking itself private.

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Prosperity Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses and consumers. It generates various deposit products, including interest-bearing demand deposits, savings accounts, money market accounts, time accounts, certificates of deposit, non interest-bearing demand deposits, and interest checking accounts. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. also provides commercial mortgage loans and multifamily residential loans, one to four family residential mortgage loans, agricultural real estate loans, construction and land development loans, commercial and industrial loans, non-real estate agricultural loans, term loans, loans for automobiles, home equity loans, and lines of credit and loans for working capital, business expansion, and the purchase of equipment and machinery, as well as interim construction loans for builders and owner-occupied commercial real estate loans. In addition, it offers junior subordinated debentures and overdraft protection; check cashing, official check, safe deposit box rental, and currency handling services; and debit cards, Internet banking, cash management, and automated telephone banking services. As of December 31, 2009, Prosperity Bancshares operated 158 full-service banking locations, including 51 in the Houston area; 27 in the South Texas area, including Corpus Christi and Victoria; 27 in the Central Texas area, including Austin and San Antonio; 20 in East Texas; 9 in Bryan/College Station; and 24 in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area. Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Roma Financial Corporation may have Italian roots, but its branches are in good ol' American capitalism. The holding company owns Roma Bank, which was founded in 1920 by Italian immigrants in New Jersey and now operates about two dozen branches in that state's Burlington, Mercer, and Ocean counties. It offers the usual personal and commercial services, such as checking and savings accounts, CDs, business and consumer loans, and credit and debit cards. The company established RomAsia bank in 2008. Two years later, it added 10 branches to Roma Bank's network through its $14.7 million acquisition of Sterling Banks. Mutual holding company Roma Financial Corporation, MHC, owns some 70% of Roma Financial.

The country's largest commercial bank by assets, Bank Mandiri serves consumers and businesses through more than 900 offices and some 2,800 ATMs throughout Indonesia. Bank Mandiri is also Indonesia's largest lender; other products and services include trade finance, Islamic banking, and investment banking through subsidiary Mandiri Sekuritas. AXA Mandiri Financial Services (a joint venture of Bank Mandiri and insurance titan AXA) offers financial advisory services, including wealth planning and insurance. The government controls two-thirds of Bank Mandiri's stock.

Annapolis Bancorp serves individual and small business customers through about 10 branches in and around the Maryland capital. The bank offers such retail services as checking, savings, and money market accounts; IRAs; and CDs. It also provides private business banking, including cash management and credit products. Its lending activities are composed of commercial mortgages (about 30% of its total loan portfolio), one- to four-family real estate loans (more than 25%), business loans (some 20%), and to a lesser extent, construction and consumer loans.

Savings bank Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid (Caja Madrid) provides services from approximately 2,100 banking offices and some 5,000 ATMs throughout Spain. It offers retail, business, and private banking services and has some 7 million individual, small business, corporate, and institutional customers. As part of an alliance with MAPFRE, Caja Madrid products and services are offered through more than 300 MAPFRE offices, as well as through the insurer's agents. Caja Madrid is merging with smaller rival Bancaja. The deal will create the largest savings bank in Spain (overtaking La Caixa).

Steiermarkische Bank und Sparkassen AG, known among English speakers as Bank Styria, is one of the largest and oldest banks in southern Austria, with more than 140 offices. Bank Styria also has subsidiaries or joint ventures in Bosnia and Herzgovinia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, as it expands throughout southeast Europe. (It has its sights set on the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.) Steiermarkische bank bought Investbanka in Croatia in 2008. The majority of its lending business is focused on real estate and leasing. Bank Styria has also been growing its pensions business. Erste Bank owns 25% of Bank Styria.

One of India's largest banks, Canara Bank (also known as CanBank) has a network of more than 2,700 branches throughout India, in addition to branches in Hong Kong and London. All of Canara Bank's branches including those located in rural areas are computerized, in a country where that is not a given. The modernization of all branches allows the bank to offer its customers networked ATMs, telebanking, internet banking, and debit card services. Canara Bank's lending focus is on agriculture, retail, housing, and infrastructure loans. Other services include asset management and factoring. The financial institution is 73% owned by India's government.

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