BBVA Compass is a leading U.S. banking franchise located in the Sunbelt region. BBVA Compass is the 15th largest U.S. commercial bank based on deposit market share and ranks as the third largest bank in Alabama, fourth largest bank in Texas and fifth largest bank in Arizona. Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, it operates more than 720 branches throughout Texas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Colorado and New Mexico.

Lakeland Bancorp is shoring up in the Garden State. It's the holding company for Lakeland Bank, which serves northern New Jersey from about 50 branch offices. Targeting individuals and small to midsized businesses, the bank offers standard retail products such as checking and savings accounts, money market and NOW accounts, and CDs. It also offers financial planning and advisory services for consumers. The bank's lending activities primarily consist of commercial loans (about half of the company's loan portfolio) and residential mortgages (about a third of all loans). Its Lakeland Bank Equipment Leasing Division offers commercial equipment lease financing.

Established in 1921, the Michinoku Bank is a regional bank offering financial services in the Aamori Prefecture in Japan. With about 120 branches and eight consolidated subsidiaries, Michinoku Bank offers traditional banking products, as well as real estate management and staffing supply services. With its "family bank" business approach, the company targets individual retail customers, as well as small-to-medium-sized businesses. It has key subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Michinoku Bank was also the first Japanese bank to open a subsidiary in Russia when it launched The Michinoku Bank (Moscow) Ltd. in 1999; it is now selling that operation to Mizuho Financial.

Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (LBBW) acts as the central bank to savings banks in the German states of Baden-Wurttemberg, Rhineland Palatinate, and Saxony. The bank handles large transactions (wholesale banking, financial securities, foreign exchange) too costly for the smaller state savings banks. Through its regional banks, Baden Wurttembergische Bank, and Sachsen Bank and Rheinland-Pfalz Bank, LBBW also provides traditional retail banking services such as real estate and commercial loans, and portfolio management at more than 200 branches. Other subsidiaries provide leasing, factoring, venture capital, and equity financing services.

Tompkins Financial, formerly Tompkins Trustco, is the holding company for Tompkins Trust Company, The Bank of Castile, and The Mahopac National Bank, which all offer traditional banking products and services through some 45 offices in upstate New York. Deposit products include checking, savings, and money market accounts. The company offers investment management services through Tompkins Investment Services, and financial planning and wealth management through subsidiary AM&M Financial Services. Tompkins Insurance Agencies sells property/casualty coverage to consumers and businesses in central and western New York.

Close Brothers Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides specialized financial services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It offers investment funds, such as multi-manager, property, and other specialist funds and services to pension funds, banks, insurance companies, private client stockbrokers, wealth managers, independent financial advisors, and private investors, as well as private equity investment services. The company also provides wealth management services, including investment management, strategic advice, financial education, banking, trust, pensions, global custody, and corporate and fund administration. In addition, it offers securities trading services, such as execution services covering UK equities, FTSE 100, AIM, European and US listed equities, and fixed interest securities for a range of clients, including stockbrokers, private asset managers, and institutional investment managers. The company’s securities trading services also comprise floor trading of foreign equities and bonds, OTC trading, and structuring of bond instruments and convertible bonds, as well as investment trust advisory services. Further, it provides lending services, such as asset based lending for corporate and personal customers focusing on various asset classes, including insurance premiums, property, domestic and commercial vehicles, specialist plant and machinery, light aircraft, and invoice receivables. Additionally, the company offers deposits and treasury services. Close Brothers Group plc was founded in 1878 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

One of the largest insurance premium finance companies in the country, First Insurance Funding is a subsidiary of Illinois-based financial holding company Wintrust Financial. If premium financing is the last thing you need, don't call First Insurance Funding. Working through independent insurance agents and brokers, First Insurance Funding provides loans to businesses to finance the cost of their commercial insurance, including liability and property/casualty coverage. Clients finance their insurance premiums to preserve cash flow, consolidate insurance payments, and to potentially realize a tax deduction on the loan interest.

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.

The private company has business interests in both financial services and premium vodka. Its Russian Standard Bank is a leading consumer lender, with more than 380 branches and offices throughout Russia; it holds more than half of the domestic credit card market. The bank's insurance arm offers life and health coverage. The company's Russian Standard Vodka is a growing global spirits brand that is exported to more than 60 countries worldwide. Another subsidiary, Roust, imports and distributes such brands as Campari, Jagermeister, and Remy Martin within Russia.

International Personal Finance can make a house call if you forgot to save your pennies. The company provides small unsecured loans, typically for periods between six months and two years. Some 26,000 local agents call on the clients to collect payments on a weekly basis; the company asks for one fixed charge for the credit and does not impose any penalty fees. In some markets, it offers a more traditional loan that customers can pay via payment transfer. The company serves approximately 2 million customers in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Mexico. International Personal Finance was founded in 1997 as the international arm of Provident Financial; it was spun off 10 years later.

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