The Federal Reserve Board terminated written agreements with bank companies in Minnesota and Oregon and entered into a new one with a Maryland company.
On Tuesday, the Fed announced that it had released the $2.4 billion-asset West Coast Bancorp in Lake Oswego, Ore., from its two-and-a-half year-old agreement.
The order prevented the company from taking dividends from the bank without prior approval.
In a research note published Thursday, Joseph Fenech, an analyst with Sandler O'Neill, said the termination brings "the company one step closer to resolving its issues with regulators."
The company's West Coast Bank still has a consent order and a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the state regulators related to the bank's overdraft practices. Those orders prevent the bank from paying dividends without written consent and require the bank to maintain higher capital ratios. At March 31, the bank had a leverage ratio of 14.85% and a total risk-based capital ratio of 20.88%.
The Fed also terminated an agreement with the $306 million-asset Profinium Financial Holdings and its Profinium Financial bank unit in Truman, Minn.
That order, which was put in place in July 2009, called for the company and the bank to strengthen board oversight and its credit risk management. It was also ordered it to draft a capital plan. Data from the FDIC show Profinium was dealing with a high level of credit problems and thinning capital at the time of the order. At March 31 of this year, however, nonperforming assets made up 2.30% of total assets and the bank's total risk-based capital ratio was 14.04%.
Meanwhile, the Fed announced a new agreement with $176 million-asset Regal Bancorp in Owings Mills, Md. The order calls for the company to serve as a source of strength to its bank unit, including ensure that the bank complies with an October 2011 consent order between the bank and the FDIC.
At March 31, Regal Bank & Trust was well capitalized, with a total risk-based capital ratio of 12.50%, but its nonperforming assets made up 9.54% of total assets.
