Raiffeisen Zentralbank has branched in many countries and now operates across Central and Eastern Europe from Albania to the Ukraine. It has more than 3,000 banking branches in the region offering commercial and investment services. Raiffeisen Zentralbank owns about 70% of Raiffeisen International Bank (RIB), through which it provides central services to its regional banks, which, in turn, provide services to local Raiffeisen banks operating more than 3,000 branches in Central and Eastern Europe. The company was founded in 1927 and is owned by its regional banks.

Beacon Federal was founded in 1953 as a credit union serving employees of air conditioner manufacturer Carrier Corporation. Beacon Federal Bancorp was created in 2007 to be the holding company for Beacon Federal, a thrift serving selected markets in Massachussetts, New York, Tennessee, and Texas. Beacon Federal Bancorp, Inc. operates about a half-dozen branches that offer standard retail products and loans, primarily residential mortgages, consumer loans, and home equity loans. Subsidiary Beacon Comprehensive Services provides investment products and tax preparation services.

Prudential Bancorp is the holding company for Prudential Savings Bank, a thrift serving the Philadelphia area from about a half-dozen locations. Established in 1886, the bank offers traditional retail products, including checking and savings accounts, IRAs, and credit cards, as well as investments and insurance. One- to four-family residential mortgages make up about three-quarters of the company's loan portfolio; the bank also originates commercial real estate, construction, and land development loans. Prudential Mutual Holding Company owns a majority of Prudential Bancorp, which converted to a mutual holding structure in 2005.

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides trade financing to commercial banks and corporations in Latin America. The company operates through three divisions: Commercial, Treasury, and Asset Management. The Commercial division offers includes loans and contingencies, primarily loans in connection with specifically identified foreign trade transactions. Its portfolio consist of confirmed and stand-by letters of credit and guarantees covering commercial and country risks, credit commitments, reimbursement undertakings, equity investments, and customers liabilities under acceptances. This division also provides a range of products, services, and solutions associated with foreign trade, including co-financing arrangements, underwriting of syndicated credit facilities, structured trade financing, asset-based financing in the form of factoring, vendor financing and leasing, and other fee-based services, such as electronic clearing services.

Central Bancorp is the holding company for Central Co-operative Bank. Operating as Central Bank, it serves Middlesex County in the northwestern suburbs of Boston through about 10 bank branches and loan centers. The bank's primary business is gathering deposits by offering NOW, money market, checking, and savings accounts; CDs; and retirement savings plans. It primarily uses these funds to originate commercial mortgages (more than half of all loans in the company's portfolio, up from 20% in 2001). Residential mortgages have gone down from around 70% to less than 40% since then. The bank also offers construction, home equity, business, and consumer loans, as well as credit cards.

Juniata Valley Financial may be the place for you. The institution is the holding company for Juniata Valley Bank, which serves central Pennsylvania from about a dozen banking locations. The bank offers standard deposit products and services, including checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, IRAs, and CDs. It also provides credit card services and originates a variety of consumer and business loans. Consumer loans make about 70% of its loan portfolio. Additionally, Juniata Valley Bank sells insurance and investment products. Juniata Valley Bank was established in 1867.

United PanAm Financial flies the choppy skies of subprime lending. Operating through subsidiaries United Auto Credit Corporation (UACC) and United Auto Business Operations (UABO), the specialty finance firm originates, buys, and services auto loan contracts for high-risk customers. The company buys contracts from independent and franchised used car dealers. Most borrowers have less-than-perfect credit histories, which impairs their ability to secure loans. UACC, once heavily localized in California, now has more than 15 offices throughout the country -- a dramatic decrease from what it had only a few years ago. Chairman Guillermo Bron and investment firm Pine Brook Road are buying United PanAm.

Heritage Oaks Bancorp acts as a bank holding company of Heritage Oaks Bank. Other than holding the shares of the Bank, the Company conducts no significant activities, although it is authorized, with the prior approval of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, to engage in a variety of activities that are deemed closely related to the business of banking. The Bank offers traditional banking products, such as checking, savings and certificates of deposit, as well as mortgage loans and commercial and consumer loans to customers who are predominately small to medium-sized businesses and individuals.

BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) is the parent of Bank of China (Hong Kong), which has about 300 branches in Hong Kong as well as on mainland China. The bank serves local businesses and consumers, providing loans, deposit accounts, and other standard services, as well as securities brokerage, wealth management, and project financing and syndication. It also prints currency. In addition, Bank of China (Hong Kong) owns Nanyang Commercial Bank and some 70% of Chiyu Banking Corporation (both are also based in Hong Kong), as well as BOC Credit Card (International). Bank of China, which is controlled by the Chinese government, owns about two-thirds of BOC Hong Kong.

The Rose Corporation has blossomed as a merchant bank specializing in real estate. Rose provides first mortgages and short-term mezzanine lending to developers primarily in Toronto and invests in such properties as senior living centers and resorts. Benefiting from Canada's thriving entertainment industry, subsidiary Toronto Film Studios will build and operate Filmport, a $250 million multistage film lot and media village in Toronto's port area. CEO Sam Reisman split from a family of homebuilders to found Rose (named for his wife) in 1982; he took the firm private in 2003.

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