South Carolina

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.

At a time when calculated retreats are becoming more common — and more accepted — Tidelands Bancshares Inc. is a new kind of leader.

About 32%, or 47, of the 146 banks that acquired a failed bank from Jan. 1, 2009, through Aug. 19 of this year have recorded a net bargain-purchase gain from the failed bank's assets.

WASHINGTON — Federal and state regulators shut seven banks late Friday, pushing the failure total this year to 103. Though the pace of failures briefly slowed earlier this month, it appears to be picking up momentum again, as Friday's failures followed six last week.

North American Financial Holdings, a group formed by former Bank of America Vice Chairman Eugene Taylor, sealed deals to buy 3 failed banks in the Southeast late Friday.

Bank of South Carolina Corp. in Charleston posted a 6% year-over-year increase in second-quarter net earnings, largely because of a wide net interest margin spread.

Two weeks after calling off a capital-raising effort, Tidelands Bancshares Inc. in Mount Pleasant, S.C., said it plans to reduce its size.

The Federal Reserve announced Friday that on May 4 it placed South Financial Group Inc. of Greenville, S.C., under a written agreement that, among other things, prevents the $12 billion-asset company from paying dividends without prior approval.

SCBT Financial Corp. of Columbia, S.C., said its first-quarter earnings skyrocketed, largely as a result of its acquisition of the failed Community Bank and Trust in Cornelia, Ga.

The South Financial Group in Greenville, S.C., reported Tuesday a large but narrowing first-quarter loss of $85.8 million. The $12.4 billion-asset company had lost $193.8 million a year earlier.

Community Capital Corp. in Greenwood, S.C., said its earnings jumped sharply in the first quarter as credit quality showed significant improvement.

When Bank of North Carolina took over Beach First National Bank in Myrtle Beach on April 9, the seller was the first bank failure in South Carolina in 11 years.