The Collapse of a Community Bank
At a Crossroads
The city manager, Donald Anderson, has had his hands full trying to look out for the interests of the residents of the town. Shortly after its seizure, CB&T was sold to another bank, South Carolina Bank and Trust, which terminated the employment of 120 of CB&T's 400 workers, closed ten of the bank's branches and moved 1,500 loans toward foreclosure. Cornelians believe SCBT is foreclosing on the bad loans so rapidly that it is taking the local economy down the tubes. "[SCBT] is really killing the town," says Anderson, "and I blame the FDIC. They've given them incentives to foreclose on properties." (SCBT says its foreclosure rate is low, given CB&T's condition: it has foreclosed on 2.14% of the business loans it bought and 1.75% of the residential mortgages, all of which were more than 100 days delinquent.)