Briefcase

RiverBank Holding raises $5 million

RiverBank Holding Co. has raised $5 million through the sale of common stock, the Spokane financial institution announced Thursday.

The private placement offering was completed Nov. 23, with members of the board of directors and management participating. The company is the parent of RiverBank, and is working under a consent order issued this summer by state and federal regulators, which included provisions requiring the bank to raise capital.

RiverBank Chief Executive Officer Chuck Brooks, who took over leadership of the 5-year-old bank earlier this year, has said the bank is working to comply with the terms of the order and is making progress toward raising adequate capital and reducing problem loans.

In October the bank filed a change-in-control report that showed an Eastern Washington couple, who won $190 million in the Mega Millions lottery earlier this year, were poised to purchase a 22.33 percent interest in RiverBank.

The couple, Jim and Carolyn McCullar, are in their 60s and at the time they won the lottery had a Soap Lake, Wash., address.

John Stucke

AmericanWest Bank buys Viking Bank

Spokane-based AmericanWest Bank has completed its purchase of Viking Bank, a deal announced earlier this year that will give AmericanWest a larger presence in the Puget Sound region. The $7.2 million transaction brings AmericanWest seven new branches.

AmericanWest earlier this year bought Sunrise Bank of Southern California for $18.5 million, and Bank of the Northwest for $17 million.

The purchases have helped AmericanWest expand to 70 branch locations in four states with assets totaling $2.3 billion.

Staff reports

Applications rise again for jobless benefits

WASHINGTON – The number of Americans who applied for jobless benefits in the past week rose above 400,000 again, an indication that the pace of hiring in the U.S. likely remains modest at best. Initial claims for unemployment compensation climbed by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 402,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the highest level in a month.

MarketWatch

GM offers to buy back Chevrolet Volts

NEW YORK – General Motors will buy Chevrolet Volts back from any owner who is afraid the electric cars will catch fire, the company’s CEO said Thursday.

In an interview with the Associated Press, CEO Dan Akerson insisted that the cars are safe, but said the company will purchase the Volts because it wants to keep customers happy. Three fires have broken out in Volts after side-impact crash tests done by the federal government. Akerson said that if necessary, GM will recall the more than 6,000 Volts now on the road in the U.S. and repair them once the company and federal safety regulators figure out what caused the fires.

Associated Press