Analyst Merideth Whitney, who has gained some infamy lately with here bearish (and accurate) calls about the fallout from the housing debacle, called Wachovia's (NYSE: WB) prospects ‘bleak’ and downgraded the company to underperform due to the continued deterioration of the housing and mortgage markets.

In what regulators have described as the second-largest bank failure in the history of the United States, IndyMac Bank has been seized by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) due to plummeting shares and the start of a run on the bank. This is the fifth FDIC-insured failure of the year.

IndyMac Bank stock has ceased trading on the NASDAQ, and the company has just posted this notice on its blog:

A federal judge in Miami today issued an order authorizing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to request information from Zurich, Switzerland-based UBS AG about U.S. taxpayers who may be using Swiss bank accounts to evade federal income taxes. The Justice Department on Monday filed papers seeking the order.

Bank stocks are experiencing a dead-cat bounce today on an analyst note issued by JP Morgan claiming that the worst of debt-related losses and write-downs are over for European banks.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading provider of electronic transaction processing solutions, announced today it has completed the formation of a joint venture with HSBC Bank plc to provide payment processing services to merchants in the United Kingdom and Internet merchants globally. The joint venture, HSBC Merchant Services, will provide merchant acquiring services to over 135,000 merchant outlets.

According to the Wall Street Journal Property Report, regulators have grown concerned over the $280 billion in outstanding construction loans to condo developers and home builders sitting on small banks' balance sheets.

First South Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSBK), parent holding company of First South Bank, has been recognized as one of banking's top performers by the ABA Banking Journal.

Phoenix Footwear Group, Inc. (Amex: PXG), a multi-brand footwear and accessories company, announced today that it has entered into a new $17 million revolving credit facility with Wells Fargo Bank.

On May 27th The Navy Federal Credit Union had announced opening its doors to Air Force and Army Personnel, and today Navy Federal Credit Union is expanding its network of branches to serve more military servicemen and women at www.navyfederal.org.

TD Banknorth announced today the launch of its new Summer Reading Program, which rewards kids for sharpening their reading skills during summer vacation.

All of the banks from Armenia are included in the list of top 1000 CIS banks, according to the volume of assets: a successful step by Armenia that aims to make the country top financial center in the near future bridging between Middle Eastern and European financial centers.