Fed clamps down on Columbia bank

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has told the management and board of Community First Inc. in Columbia to step up their efforts to raise capital [2]. The agreement, which Community First officials said in their recent annual report [3] they were expecting between the two parties, also reiterates that Community First is not allowed to pay out any dividends.

Community First Bank & Trust finished 2011 with total capital of $34.0 million, about $17 million short of where regulators said it needed to be. Parent company Community First Inc. has lost more than $46 million in the past three years and has signed deals to sell branches in Murfreesboro [4] and Cool Springs [5]. But the proceeds of those sales likely will not be enough to adequately boost the bank's capital.