Independent Bank Corporation is the holding company for Independent Bank, which serves Michigan's Lower Peninsula from more than 100 branches and a handful of loan production offices. Independent Bank provides retail and commercial banking services including mortgage lending and wealth management. Commercial loans account for about a third of its loan portfolio, followed by mortgages and consumer installment loans. The company also owns Mepco Finance, which acquired payment plans for extended automobile warranties, and Independent Title Services.

Parkvale Financial is the holding company for Parkvale Savings Bank (aka Parkvale Bank), which operates about 50 branches in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, as well as portions of southeastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. The bank offers such retail products as savings, checking, and money market accounts, CDs, and credit cards. Consumer loans, residential mortgages, business loans, and commercial mortgages comprise the bulk of its lending activities. Parkvale Financial Services sells insurance and offers investments through a partnership with LPL Financial. The bank was originally chartered in 1943 as Park Savings and Loan Association.

Merchants Bank provides community banking services to the residents of Vermont via about 35 branches throughout the state. Organized in 1849, the bank provides standard retail products including checking, money market, and savings accounts; IRAs; CDs; and ATM and debit cards. Residential mortgages account for nearly 50% of the company's loan portfolio; commercial real estate mortgages account for more than 30%. Merchants Bank also offers business, construction, agricultural, and consumer loans.

Sapporo Hokuyo Holdings, Inc was formed in 2001 to serve as the holding company for North Pacific Bank and The Sapporo Bank; together the regional banks have some 230 offices in Hokkaido, as well as an office in Tokyo and two offices in China. North Pacific Bank, which is the largest bank in Hokkaido, accounts for most of the holding company's sales; the bank traces its roots to 1917. The company also has subsidiaries active in credit cards and leasing; bank subsidiaries engage in such activities as financing.

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 Bank of Nova Scotia, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in Canada and internationally. It operates in three segments: Canadian Banking, International Banking, and Scotia Capital. Its Canadian Banking segment provides retail and small business banking products comprising mortgages, loans, savings and retirement products, credit and debit cards, investments, insurance, and day-to-day banking products to individuals and small businesses; wealth management services consisting of personal investment and advisory products and services, which include retail brokerage, mutual funds, investment management, private banking, and estate and trust services; and commercial banking services, such as products for agriculture, franchising, leasing, real estate and automotive lending, and tailored financing solutions medium to large businesses, as well as deposit and cash management services.

The Singer Organization can help you join the chorus of companies seeking debt and equity funding. The commercial brokerage company (which does business as The Singer & Bassuk Organization or SBO) provides debt and equity funding and consulting services for commercial real estate firms, primarily in the New York metropolitan area. The Singer Organization's average deal size is in excess of $50 million. Typically the firm arranges financing for high-rise residential buildings, hotels, retail centers, and offices. Big developers such as the Moinian Group, Rockrose Development, and Douglaston Development are among its clients. Executives Andrew Singer and Richard Bassuk lead the firm, which they founded in 1995.

CBRE | Melody helps commercial real estate owners sing a sweeter tune. A unit of real estate powerhouse CB Richard Ellis, the real estate investment banking and commercial mortgage lending firm offers a variety of debt and equity financing products and related services through more than 35 offices in major cities throughout North America. Loan servicing is provided through GEMSA Loan Services, its joint venture with GE Real Estate. CBRE | Melody offers construction, permanent, mezzanine, and other types of financing for apartment complexes, office buildings, hotels, and industrial and retail properties.

SCBT Financial is the holding company for South Carolina Bank and Trust and South Carolina Bank and Trust of the Piedmont (both are also known as SCBT), which operate more than 40 branches throughout the Palmetto state. The company also owns North Carolina Bank and Trust, or NCBT, which has three locations in the Charlotte area. SCBT Financial entered northern Georgia in 2010 when it acquired the failed Community Bank & Trust in an FDIC-assisted transaction; the deal added nearly 40 locations, most of them inside supermarkets, though SBCT later shuttered several of them. Serving retail and business customers, the banks provide deposit accounts, loans, and mortgages, as well as trust and investment services.

Union First Market Bankshares is the holding company for Union Bank & Trust, which operates approximately 100 branches in central, northern, and coastal portions of Virginia. The bank offers standard services such as checking and savings accounts, credit cards, and certificates of deposit. Union Bank & Trust maintains a diverse loan portfolio: Commercial real estate loans make up about 30%, while one- to four-family residential mortgages and construction loans account for approximately 20% and 15%, respectively. The bank also originates personal and business loans.

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