Americas

The state of Indiana has tapped a former banker to help restore credibility to its beleaguered revenue department.

The Treasury Department has not said if it intends to auction off more stakes it owns in community banks, but Yadkin Valley Financial (YAVY) in Elkin, N.C., wants to be ready in case it does.

Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK) in Little Rock said its first-quarter earnings increased 23% from the same period in 2011, to $18 million, on the strength of improved efficiency, solid growth in fee income and a continued decline in problem assets.

In a letter to Senate leaders, the head of a Glendale, Calif., credit union broke with the rest of the industry on legislation that would allow credit unions to make more commercial loans.

Shares of Southcoast Financial (SOCB) surged more than 50% Thursday after the Mt. Pleasant, S.C., banking company reported its first quarterly profit in nearly two years.

NCAL Bancorp in Los Angeles and Raton Capital in New Mexico have been hit with enforcement orders from the Federal Reserve Board that require them to stabilize their ailing bank subsidiaries.

C&F Financial (CFFI) in West Point, Va., has repurchased all the shares it issued to the Treasury Department in 2009 and now just needs to buy back its warrant to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Heritage Financial Group (HBOS) of Albany, Ga., is entering neighboring Alabama with an agreement to buy a branch in Auburn from the banking unit of Community Capital Bancshares.

Empire National Bank said that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has ended a formal agreement after the Islandia, N.Y., bank improved its liquidity management and reduced credit concentrations.

BB&T’s (BBT) deal to buy BankAtlantic Bancorp’s (BBX) thrift for up to $316 million has received the green light from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of three federal regulators that must approve the sale.