A Burdale in the hand may be worth a few bushels full of cash to midsized businesses in the UK and continental Europe. Burdale Financial, which was acquired from Wachovia by Bank of Ireland in 2005, provides comprehensive asset-based lending to businesses looking for growth financing. Burdale Financial shuns what it characterizes as piece-meal approaches (receivables lending, factoring) in favor of comprehensive asset-based financing, which typically sees Burdale lending to manufacturing, retail, or distribution clients undergoing a change, such as management-led buyout or turnaround. Officers Dennis Levine and Brian Gitlin founded Burdale Financial in 1992.

Abbey International is waiting. A unit of Spanish banking powerhouse Santander, Abbey National International (which does business as Abbey International) serves British expatriates with offshore banking services via telephone and the Internet. Offerings include standard deposit accounts, as well as tax-beneficial interest-bearing products denominated in British sterling, US dollars, and euros. Santander's UK divisions are adopting the parent company's brand.

BB&T, the banking company that covers the Southeast like kudzu. The company serves consumers, small to midsized businesses, and government entities through more than 1,800 branches. Its flagship subsidiary, Branch Banking and Trust (also known as BB&T), is one of North Carolina's oldest banks and a leading originator of residential mortgages in the Southeast. In addition to deposit accounts and loans, the company offers insurance, mutual funds, discount brokerage, wealth management, and financial planning services. Business services include leasing, factoring, and investment banking (through Scott & Stringfellow).

Bank of the Carolinas Corporation was formed in 2006 to be the holding company for Bank of the Carolinas, which provides traditional deposit and lending services to individuals and businesses through about 10 branches in central North Carolina. Deposit services include checking, savings, and money market accounts; IRAs; and CDs. Commercial real estate loans account for the largest portion of the company's loan portfolio; the bank's lending activities also include business, construction, and consumer loans, residential mortgages, and home equity lines of credit.

Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. owns 10 independently operated companies that offer private banking, wealth advisory, and investment management to wealthy individuals and institutional clients throughout the US. Boston Private's holdings include Boston Private Bank & Trust, which operates about 10 branches in Massachusetts. In California, the company runs Borel Private Bank & Trust and First Private Bank & Trust. Charter Private Bank serves clients in Washington. The banks offer a range of deposit lending products. Boston Private's advisory and management arms oversee some $19 billion in assets.

F.N.B. Corporation is the holding company for First National Bank of Pennsylvania, which operates about 225 bank branches in Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio. The company also has more than 50 consumer finance offices in those states and Tennessee, plus a handful of loan production offices in Florida. It operates in four segments, providing community banking, wealth management, insurance, and consumer finance products and services to retail clients and small businesses. It also offers leasing and merchant banking services. F.N.B. plans to expand in northeastern Pennsylvania through the acquisition of Comm Bancorp in a deal worth some $70 million.

Cheviot Financial happily puts the "buck" in "Buckeye State." It is the holding company for Cheviot Savings Bank, which operates more than five branches in and around Cincinnati. The community-oriented thrift offers traditional products such as checking and savings accounts, CDs, IRAs, and credit cards. Its lending activities primarily consist of residential mortgages; construction, consumer, and commercial loans round out its loan book. Cheviot offers investment services through third-party provider Souders Financial. Cheviot Mutual Holding Company owns about 60% of Cheviot Financial, which will nearly double in size through its planned acquisition of First Franklin Corporation.

First Mid-Illinois Bancshares is a major supplier of farm credit (including real estate, machinery, and production loans; inventory financing; and lines of credit) in its market area. In addition to agricultural loans, the bank also offers commercial, consumer, and real estate lending. It also provides deposit products such as savings and checking accounts, plus trust and investment services through a partnership with Raymond James . First Mid-Illinois has nearly 40 branches after acquiring about 10 in northern Illinois from First Banks in 2010.

Lafayette Community Bancorp operates as the holding company for Lafayette Community Bank, which offers commercial banking services primarily in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. The banks deposit activities consist of noninterest bearing and interest bearing demand deposits, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, time deposits, and individual retirement accounts.

The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides retail and commercial banking, wealth management, and wholesale banking products and services in North America and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management, U.S. Personal and Commercial Banking, and Wholesale Banking. The Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking segment comprises its Canadian banking and global insurance businesses that serve personal and small business customers. It provides a range of insurance products, such as home and automobile coverage, life and health insurance in Canada and the U.S.; business property and casualty business in the U.S.; and credit protection coverage on lending products. This segment also offers banking solutions through telephone and Internet banking. The Wealth Management segment provides discount brokerage, financial planning, private investment advice, and private client services in Canada; and financial advisory, private banking, and trust and investment management services to the U.S. clients. The U.S. Personal and Commercial Banking segment comprises the retail and commercial banking operations in the United States. It serves through a network of approximately 1,028 branches. The Wholesale Banking segment serves corporate, government, and institutional clients in financial markets worldwide. It provides a range of capital market and investment banking products and services that include underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues, providing advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures, and executing daily trading and investment needs. As of October 31, 2009, the company operated approximately 2,600 automated banking machines, and a network of 1,116 branches located in Canada. The company was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

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