By Catherine M. Welch
Wilmington, NC – Cape Fear Bank customers are now doing business with First Federal Savings and Loan out of Charleston.
The South Carolina bank took over after federal regulators closed the Wilmington bank on Friday.
North Carolina Bank Commissioner Joseph Smith says there was a lot of interest in taking over Cape Fear Bank.
Another Wilmington bank, Cooperative Bank, is also under federal scrutiny, a situation Smith is well aware of.
"The management and board of Cooperative are working very hard to address it, as are we, and I am very hopeful that we can help Cooperative to work through its current situation."
Smith give's North Carolina banks a "B" grade, and says overall the state's banks are healthy.
"My concern for all our banks is that they operate in a safe and sound manner, and this is a tough task for a lot of our banks in the current economic environment. But our banks are well capitalized, they have good managements and I think they're in pretty good shape."
Cape Fear Bank in Wilmington is the 22nd bank to fail this year. The last North Carolina bank closed was Crown National Bank in Charlotte, in 1993.
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