South Carolina has 16 fewer state-based banks than North Carolina, yet the Palmetto State has eight more institutions that have been placed under some sort of regulatory action since 2008, The State newspaper reports.
“Nearly one of every four banks based in South Carolina has received public enforcement actions from federal regulators since the recession began 2 1-2 years ago,” the paper reported.
“At least 21 S.C.-based banks now have received orders to improve their balance sheets since 2008, according to records from regulators’ websites,” it added. “The number has doubled this year.”
So far during the current recession, four South Carolina banks have failed: Beach First National Bank of Myrtle Beach, First National Bank of the South of Spartanburg, Woodlands Bank of Bluffton, and Williamsburg First National Bank of Kingstree.
By comparison, just two North Carolina banks have failed, The Cooperative Bank and Cape Fear Bank, both of Wilmington.
Georgia, however, has seen more than 40 bank failures since mid-2008 and could lose as many as two dozen more in the next year or so, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Among Palmetto State banks under regulatory orders are Carolina First Bank and The Palmetto Bank, both based in Greenville, CapitalBank of Greenwood, the Bank of Anderson, and S.C. Community Bank, the state’s only minority owned institution.
The Cotton Boll Conspiracy 