Banking and Finance
By Bill Cresenzo
bill.cresenzo@insidebiz.com
Last December, Carl Ratcliff, the CEO of ABNB Federal Credit Union in Chesapeake, received a call from George Johnson, the treasurer of Norfolk Federal Credit Union.
According to Ratcliff, Johnson told him that regulators were looking into Norfolk Federal Credit Union's financials, "and things were not looking good because of the expenses."
By Bill Cresenzo
bill.cresenzo@insidebiz.com
The Small Business Administration named TowneBank one of Virginia's top lenders of SBA loans for fiscal year 2012.
The SBA named the Suffolk-based community bank its top community bank lender of SBA 504 loans for the year.
The bank approved 19 loans totaling $8.5 million for small businesses.
TowneBank will accept an award on June 24 at the Virginia Small Business Week Awards Luncheon at the Richmond Westin Hotel.
By Bill Cresenzo
bill.cresenzo@insidebiz.com
After a trial that has lasted almost two months, the fate of Edward Woodard, the former Bank of the Commonwealth president charged with fraud, and his co-defendants was slated to go to a jury last week.
"We entrust banks with our hard-earned money," said Prosecutor Katherine Lee Martin in her closing statement in U.S. District Court in downtown Norfolk.
OLD POINT FINANCIAL
Old Point Financial, the parent company of Old Point National Bank, posted a profit of $901,000, or $0.18 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2013.
The bank's financial results were released last week. The profit of $901,000 compared to after- tax income before securities gains of $871,0000 for the same period of 2012.
There were no securities gains in the first quarter of 2013.
Lower noninterest expense contributed to improve profitability in the first quarter of 2013 over the first quarter of 2012.
By Bill Cresenzo
bill.cresenzo@insidebiz.com
Diaper Junction, which sells cloth diapers in Virginia Beach, took first place in Monarch Bank's Top Flight Award contest.
Owner Bryana Guckin received a check for $10,000 from Monarch, plus a package worth $40,000 - $10,000 worth of services from accounting firm Cherry Bekaert LLP; a $10,000 communications package from Cox Business; an advertising package valued at $10,000 from Cox Media; and an advertising contract with Pilot Media valued at $10,000.
U.S. stocks rose Wednesday as earnings forecasts from Whole Foods Market and Electronic Arts Inc. beat analyst estimates.
Whole Foods Market and Electronic Arts gained more than 10 percent. J.C. Penney Co. added 7.4 percent as quarterly sales declined less than in the year-earlier period. Symantec lost 2.4 percent after it said sales and revenue will miss analyst estimates.
By Jared Council
jared.council@insidebiz.com
The head of a Norfolk-based NATO command said the challenges facing the international military alliance are many, but it will find a way to work through them as the need for NATO remains great.
By Bill Cresenzo
bill.cresenzo@insidebiz.com
Edward Woodard Jr., the former president of the failed Bank of the Commonwealth, steadfastly denied in U.S. District Court in downtown Norfolk last week that he did anything to defraud the bank.
Woodard, taking the stand in his own defense, is charged with 12 counts, including fraud.
He is standing trial alongside three former bank executives - his son, Brandon Woodard, Simon Hounslow and Stephen Fields - and Norfolk developer Dwight Etheridge.
By Jared Council
jared.council@insidebiz.com
As about $1.2 trillion in federal spending cuts are set to take effect over the next decade, panelists at a recent function told the bankers in attendance they need to alter some common habits if they haven't already.
"You've got to get closer to contractors," said John Carpenter, a former banker and current principal at Cherry Bekaert LLP.
By Bill Cresenzo
bill.cresenzo@insidebiz.com
It will be almost a year before the Internal Revenue Service finishes its audit of the WexTrust Receivership, which will delay the distribution of payments to victims of a multi-million Ponzi scheme.
Tomoko Ononzawa, an assistant U.S. attorney, submitted a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan on behalf of the IRS, saying it would take 11 months to audit four years' worth of draft returns to determine how much the receivership should be taxed.
