North Carolina

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.

First Bancorp in Southern Pines, N.C., and First Community Bancshares in Bluefield, Va., have agreed to exchange branches in two states.

CommunityOne Bancorp entered 2015 with hopes of buying banks and nonbanks. Shortly after whiffing on several deals, the North Carolina company ended up selling itself to Capital Bank Financial.

Banks are generally selling for less than they did before the financial crisis. Yet there have been select instances in which buyers have been willing to pay significant premiums to sellers' tangible book values. Here are the highest premiums since January 2015 for deals valued at $100 million or more.

Park Sterling in Charlotte, N.C., has hired Donald Truslow as its next chief financial officer.

The company plans to eliminate an unknown number of positions, including high-paying job titles such as managing director.

First Citizens BancShares in Raleigh, N.C., said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit fell 32.1% from a year earlier, to $42.7 million.

At least five regional banks on Thursday discarded concerns about the global economy, stocks, interest rates and credit quality, forecasting loan growth for the rest of this year.

ASB Bancorp in Asheville, N.C., has agreed to appoint to its board the activist investor Lawrence Seidman and another representative picked by Seidman.

BB&T in Winston-Salem, N.C., posted lower quarterly results that largely reflected lower fee income and costs tied to recent acquisitions.

Four Oaks Fincorp in Four Oaks, N.C., has refinanced $11.5 million in subordinated debt.

Four Oaks Fincorp in Four Oaks, N.C., has appointed Lisa Herring chief operating officer of the company and Four Oaks Bank & Trust.

Heritage Bankshares in Norfolk, Va., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund, ahead of its proposed deal to be acquired by Southern BancShares in Mount Olive, N.C.

Capital Bank CEO Eugene Taylor took a three-year break from acquisitions until agreeing to buy CommunityOne earlier this year. Taylor hopes the deal provides evidence that his team is a buyer – not a seller – in the year ahead.

First Bancorp in Southern Pines, N.C., has agreed to buy Bankingpoint, an insurance agency in Sanford, N.C.

Live Oak Bancshares in Wilmington, N.C., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund.

Premara Financial in Charlotte, N.C., has raised $8.5 million in a stock offering and plans to exit the Small Business Lending Fund program.

Entegra Financial in Franklin, N.C., has agreed to buy Oldtown Bank in Waynesville, N.C.

Capital Bank Financial in Coral Gables, Fla., has agreed to buy CommunityOne Bancorp in Charlotte, N.C.