Federal regulators have rejected Amcore Financial's plans to strengthen its finances and have given the Rockford bank one month to raise money or prepare to merge or be sold.

Both the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Board sent letters to Amcore last week saying its plan, submitted in June, to raise capital and put its finances on firmer footing is not acceptable and is not likely to succeed, Amcore revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.

Amcore has until Dec. 4 to submit a new financial plan to the Comptroller of the Currency as well as a plan for the potential sale or merger of the bank.

"The company and the bank are diligently continuing to work with their financial and professional advisers in seeking qualified sources of outside capital and in achieving compliance with the requirements," Amcore wrote in its filing Monday.

It said failure to submit an acceptable plan or restore capital to an appropriate level "may result in additional enforcement actions by the regulators, including the appointment of a receiver."

Amcore has five branches in Madison and recently sold four other southern Wisconsin bank branches.

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