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.

Four Oaks Fincorp Inc. and a shareholder are engaged in a proxy battle over a proposal to separate the North Carolina company's chairman and CEO roles.

These are not easy days for community banks in Georgia and Florida, but signs of hope are springing. This week in Georgia Ameris Bancorp in Moultrie announced plans to raise nearly $74 million in fresh capital via a public offering, and Gwinnett Community Bank said it raised $5 million from members of its community.

Westamerica Bancorp. of San Rafael, Calif., announced Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings fell 55% from a year earlier, to $23.6 million, as its credit costs remained relatively low but were significantly higher than a year earlier.

First Mariner Bancorp of Baltimore has boosted its common equity by $10.9 million. The $1.38 billion-asset company announced Tuesday that it had raised $3.9 million through a rights offering to existing shareholders, and raised the remaining $7 million in a public stock offering.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s board voted Tuesday to extend by six months its program offering unlimited deposit insurance for business accounts, a sign that it remains concerned about the health of community banks.

TierOne Corp. in Lincoln, Neb., said that it has been notified that it is noncompliant with Nasdaq's listing rules for a second time in several months.

Pacific West Bank in West Linn, Ore., has accepted a consent order with federal and state regulators requiring it to strengthen capital and address asset-quality deterioration, the bank has announced.

Green Bancorp Inc. announced Monday that it will receive $115 million in fresh capital from a group of private-equity firms, positioning the Houston company to become a significant acquirer in Texas.

With $250 million of capital headed its way, Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida could make the big leap from survivor to acquirer.

By owning and controlling their credit card businesses, community and regional banks can diversify their local-market lending through balance sheet funding via low-cost, local deposits, while they strengthen their customers' overall banking relationship.

Shareholders were persuaded to double down on PVF because the new chief executive plans to transform the thrift company into a major player in the disrupted Cleveland market.

The FDIC sold the operations of the $585 million-asset Beach First National Bank in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Bank of North Carolina in Thomasville.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sold the operations of the $585 million-asset Beach First National Bank in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Bank of North Carolina in Thomasville.

The $185 million-asset bank reported a profit of $448,000, or 24 cents a share, compared with $278,000 in the first quarter of 2009, it said Friday in its report for the quarter ended March 31.

Meridian Interstate Bancorp Inc. in East Boston, Mass., received permission to repurchase up to 5% of its outstanding shares.

The sale of Harleysville National Corp. of Pennsylvania to First Niagara Financial Group of Buffalo closed Friday, though before the closing Harleysville National sold a wealth management division.

Four Wachovia Corp. veterans plan to build a major regional bank in the Carolinas and Virginia, and are putting a twist on the strategy similar groups are using.

The National Credit Union Administration has entered the real estate market along Florida's Gulf Coast in a big way as it struggles to sell hundreds of properties it ended up holding from three large credit union failures: Norlarco Federal Credit Union, Huron River Area Federal Credit Union and New Horizons Community Federal Credit Union.

Pacific Mercantile Bancorp in Costa Mesa, Calif., reported a $6.8 million loss for the fourth quarter, cutting its loss nearly in half from a year earlier, with the improvement primarily driven by a lower provision for loan losses.