The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Small business lending is showing small signs of growth, according to data compiled by the government.

The total amount of small business loans outstanding at the end of the fourth quarter came to $586 billion, up from $584 billion in the third quarter, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. That was the first quarterly gain in small business lending since the FDIC began tracking loans on a quarterly basis at the start of 2010. The FDIC is a government agency that insures bank deposits and oversees financial companies.

The Small Business Lending Fund, a fund set that promotes lending to small businesses and was created as part of the Small Business Jobs Act, has increased its lending to North Carolina small businesses by more than $205.3 million.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department's report, those participating in the SBLF have increased lending for six straight quarters. Nationwide, "SBLF participants have increased lending by $7.4 billion overall and $740 million over the prior quarter."

“Community banks participating in the Obama Administration’s Small Business Lending Fund have consistently increased small business lending over the past two years, resulting in increased access to capital for thousands of small and family-owned businesses across the country,” said Neal Wolin, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.

Risky coastal developments helped spell the end for Cooperative Bankshares.

The Wilmington bank, which failed in June, didn't closely scrutinize borrowers and didn't follow through when examiners suggested changes, the Charlotte Observer reports, citing a regulatory review released today.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which released the report, also took some of the blame for Cooperative's failure. Though its examiners began raising questions as early as 2004, asking whether the bank's internal audit team was understaffed, the FDIC acknowledged that firmer action on its part “may have been prudent.”

Cooperative was the second N.C.-based bank to fail in the current crisis. The other, Cape Fear Bank, was also based in Wilmington and also hurt by its concentration in coastal development.

Cooperative, founded in 1898, had about two dozen branches stretching from the Outer Banks to Myrtle Beach.

A Durham-based credit union founded to help low-income and minority borrowers continues to expand its operations in California during the downturn.

Self-Help Federal Credit Union bought Kern Central Credit Union, a failed lender in Bakersfield, Calif., with three branches and about $35 million in assets. The deal was arranged by the National Credit Union Administration, which seized Kern and transferred its assets and members to Self-Help.

It's the fourth California credit union Self-Help has taken over during the past 18 months. The nonprofit now manages 18 credit union branches in North Carolina and California and has 50,000 members.

Kern's three branches will be merged into Community Trust Credit Union, a division of Self-Help focused on the Central Valley and Bay Area regions of California. The Central Valley, including Kern County and Bakersfield, has been hit hard by the recession and housing bust.

Capital Bank has cut the size of its board to reduce costs and eventually bring in some new voices.

The Raleigh-based bank will have 10 directors, down from 17. Capital Bank made the move after hiring an outside consultant to assess the composition and size of its board.

To account for the weak economy, the company has frozen salaries this year and suspended 401(k) matches for its workers. So asking the board to sacrifice made sense, said CEO B. Grant Yarber.

"It was getting more difficult to be nimble and move quickly with 17 board members," Yarber said. "It's painful because I genuinely like each and every one of these people."