North Carolina

Paragon Commercial Bank, Unity Bancorp and Nicolet Bankshares have found success by radically rethinking their strategies.

High Point Bank considered bulking up to the size of other community banks in its market but quickly realized that the strategy would involve significant expense, risk and capital. So the company ended up selling to BNC Bancorp.

B of A is normally thought of as a U.S. economic bellwether, but it has substantial operations overseas, and its international performance last quarter provided a painful reminder of that fact.

Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. lender by assets, said profit declined 13% on a drop in trading and underwriting revenue and a 30% increase in provisions for credit losses, mostly tied to souring energy loans.

BNC Bancorp in High Point, N.C., has delayed the closing of its acquisition of Southcoast Financial in Mount Pleasant, S.C., as the Federal Reserve has not completed its review of the deal.

HomeTrust Bancshares in Asheville, N.C., will name a the former North Carolina market president for Fifth Third Bancorp to its board, along with two other professionals.

Carolina Trust Bank in Lincolnton, N.C., has revised downward its fourth-quarter results because of accounting changes related to its retirement plan and an acquisition from years ago.

Capital Bank Financial in Charlotte, N.C., will record a first-quarter $5.5 million net loss, after it agreed to an early termination of its loss-share agreements tied to three failed banks.

A dozen banks from Arkansas to Virginia are nearing $10 billion in assets, where they will face higher compliance costs and caps on interchange fees. Mergers among those institutions could create a new class of regional bank.

That is the message from North Carolina's banking commissioner and others who think the odds of preventing the rule are so low, and the amount of preparation needed to comply so great, that bankers should get real.