Oritani Financial could give an oratory on local banking in New Jersey. The holding company owns Oritani Bank (formerly Oritani Savings Bank), which offers retail and commercial deposit and loan banking services from about 20 locations in three Garden State counties. Oritani Financial specializes in multi-family and commercial real estate lending, which make up more than half of its loan portfolio. Oritani Financial also writes one- to four-family and second mortgages, as well as equity and construction loans. It invests in real property through its Hampshire Financial, Oritani LLC, and Ormon divisions; Oritani Asset is a real estate investment trust (REIT).

National Bank of Canada offers personal and commercial banking services through about 450 branches in Canada, primarily in Quebec. The company's offerings include deposits and loans, credit cards, and insurance. Through some 85 locations, its National Bank Financial subsidiary offers financial advisory, brokerage services, pension management, trust services, and more than 80 proprietary mutual funds. The unit manages more than $50 billion of client assets. It also performs investment banking services such as mergers and acquisitions advice, as well as corporate finance.

FirstRand's FirstRand Bank Holdings operates FirstRand Bank and First National Bank in southern Africa, as well as asset financing firm WesBank and investment bank Rand Merchant Bank. FirstRand Limited owns and operates more than 750 branches and approximately 6,000 ATMs in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zambia. It also has a presence on every continent except Antarctica, with an international focus on Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and the UK. The company's activities encompass retail and private banking, corporate and investment banking, insurance, and asset management.

F & M Bank has deep roots in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Founded in 1908, the holding company operates about 10 Farmers & Merchants Bank branches in the northern Virginia counties of Rockingham and Shenandoah. Farmers & Merchants caters to individuals and businesses. It provides typical deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, CDs, and IRAs. Some 40% of its loans are mortgages; it also writes agricultural, business, construction, and consumer loans. The company offers insurance, brokerage, and financial services through TEB Life Insurance and Farmers & Merchants Financial Services.

BNP Paribas Bangkok is the Thai branch of Paris-based global banking powerhouse BNP Paribas. The Bangkok location offers corporate and investment banking, including financing, asset management, equity derivatives, and insurance. Its consumer banking products include loans, credit cards, and insurance under the names Cetelem and Thai Cardif. BNP Paribas Bangkok's Connexis electronic banking service gives business customers online access to the bank worldwide. BNP opened its Bangkok branch in 1979; it was fully licensed by the Thai government in 1997.

Security Finance Corporation of Spartanburg. Founded in 1955, the consumer loan company provides personal loans typically ranging from $100 to $600 (some states, however, allow loan amounts as high as $3,000). Customers can also turn to Security Finance for credit reports and tax preparation services. The company has approximately 800 offices in about 15 states operating mainly under the Security Finance, Sunbelt Credit, and PFS banners. It also has locations operating as Security Financial Services and Longhorn Finance in North Carolina and Texas, respectively.

Established in 2001, Tokyo Star provides a range of retail banking and corporate finance services. Its retail operations boast about 35 domestic branches and more than 2,300 ATMs throughout the country. Non-recourse loans and mortgages, as well as loans to the health care, environmental, and shipping markets, are among its most popular offerings. Japan-based buyout outfit Advantage Partners bought Tokyo Star Bank, including the nearly 70% stake held by US-based Lone Star Funds, in 2008.

Private Export Funding Corporation (PEFCO) wants what's "Made in America" to make it outside of America. The company, established with the help of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Export-Import Bank of the United States, supports the export of US-made goods by purchasing loans in the secondary market from commercial lenders that finance US exports. Lenders sell loans to PEFCO to improve profitability, remove low-yielding assets or loans in high-risk countries from their balance sheets, free up credit capacity for other borrowers, and to reduce the size of their loan portfolios. PEFCO shareowners include major commercial banks involved in US export financing, as well as industrial export companies.

Apollo Bancorp is the holding company for Apollo Trust Company, a community bank serving Western Pennsylvania's Kiski Valley, northeast of Pittsburgh. Through about five branches, the bank offers checking, savings, and investment accounts to individuals and local businesses. It also offers trust services. One- to four-family residential mortgages and commercial real estate loans make up most of the bank's loan portfolio. It also offers construction and land development loans, consumer loans, and farm loans, in addition to lending to area municipalities. Apollo Trust Company opened in 1871.

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.

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