Small banks, bad decisions

The headlines are dominated by the travails of the big banks, the likes of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. But plenty of small banks are suffering as well, and a lot of that has to do with some poor business decisions that, in hindsight, rival the decisions at the big banks. TheDeal.com offers an insightful look at First Integrity Bank, of Staples, Minn. (population 3,000). The government took it over, reopening it as part of a Waterford, ND bank. The reason it went down had little to do with the residents of Staples but rather the performance of big real estate loans made to finance real estate projects in Arizona and Florida.

For more:
- here's the article

Related Article:
The U.S. Banking Collapse: Another bank fails (updated yesterday)