South Carolina

The Federal Reserve has announced written agreements with three banking companies.

Bank of North Carolina in Thomasville, N.C., announced Thursday that it is buying Regent Bank in Greenville, S.C., for $9.8 million.

Integra Bank in Evansville, Ind., was closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, after fighting to survive for nearly two years.

SCBT Financial Corp. in Columbia, S.C., which bought a failed bank and raised capital in February, on Friday posted its best quarterly results in two years.

First Financial Holdings Inc. in Charleston, S.C., is looking to unload $155 million of mostly troubled real estate loans by the end of 2011.

The Bank of South Carolina Corp. is on pace to beat its profit target for the full year thanks to strong second-quarter results, its president said Wednesday.

First Community Corp. in Lexington, S.C., on Wednesday agreed to buy the assets of Palmetto South Mortgage Corp. of Columbia, S.C. The $607.3 million-asset company said it expects to complete the deal on July 31.

First Financial Holdings Inc. in Charleston, S.C., has agreed to buy five South Carolina branches from Liberty Savings Bank. The $3.3 billion-asset First Financial will buy $109.5 million in deposits and $27 million in performing loans as part of the deal.

The closure Friday of the $208 million-asset Atlantic Bank and Trust in Charleston, S.C., was estimated to cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $36 million.

First Financial Holdings Inc. is selling its insurance agency subsidiary and its chief executive said that the Charleston, S.C., company intends to use the proceeds to shore up its capital base and invest in its core businesses of banking and wealth management.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced written agreements with four banking companies.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday released information on written agreements with five banking companies.

Park Sterling Corp. in Charlotte, N.C., said Thursday that it has agreed to buy Community Capital Corp. of Greenwood, S.C.

The Federal Reserve made public two written agreements for bank holding companies dealing with high levels of credit problems at their bank units.

Coastal Banking Co. of Beaufort, S.C., reported late Friday that its net loss shrank to $2.3 million in the fourth quarter from $11.9 million a year earlier.

SCBT Financial Corp. in Columbia, S.C., added $35 million in capital base to complement its acquisition last week of a failed bank.

Four bank failures book-ended the country on Friday. The four banks had a total of $1.05 billion in assets and are expected to cost the Deposit Insurance Fund $267.6 million collectively. So far, 22 institutions have failed so far this year.

Despite having private-equity commitments, the $2 billion-asset United Western Bank in Denver failed Friday. Regulators also closed banks in the Carolinas and Georgia.

Bank of South Carolina Corp. reported a sixfold year-over-year increase in third-quarter net income, to $821,601.

After raising capital from its directors, Security Federal Corp. in Aiken, S.C., said it has received approval from the Treasury Department to participate in a capital program designed for community development banks.