More area businesses are opening Wednesday following impacts of Hurricane Florence. Below is a running list of some of those locations. Financial Services - Adam Shay CPA, PLLC, 1721 Allens Lane, Suite 210, is open for business during its regular hours. Contact them at 256-3456. - Pathfinder Wealth Consulting, 4018 Oleander Drive, Suite 102, will open Thursday from 8 ...

Many Wilmington-area banks closed Thursday as Hurricane Florence, a Category 2 storm, got closer to making landfall. Wells Fargo closed 47 branches Thursday in Eastern North Carolina in preparation for the arrival of Florence, according to a news release. That involves nine branches in Wilmington, including its downtown location at Third and Grace streets, the bank bran ...

Regional banks are working to expand their portfolios through commercial lending, according to a recent report from Reuters.   In a piece published in July, the international news outlet stated, “U.S. regional banks are ramping up commercial lending to compete more aggressively with their national rivals … Most of the big regional lenders reported doubl ...

Wilmington-based Live Oak Bancshares (Nasdaq: LOB) logged another successful quarter, according to a July 25 release from the company.   Live Oak reported second quarter net earnings available to common shareholders of $14.3 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, compared to $9.8 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2017. That’s a 46 pe ...

Bank of the Ozarks, which has one Wilmington branch, has changed its name as it seeks to expand geographically.   The new name, official as of July 16, is Bank OZK.   In March, American Banker quoted the bank CEO George Gleason as saying the name change would free the bank from the limitations of a name tied to a specific geographic region.   “Ou ...

Wilmington-based Live Oak Bank announced Tuesday that it has launched Live Oak Private Wealth. The new entity aims to give wealthy individuals and families "the wealth and investment management strategies they need to pursue their financial goals," according to a news release from Live Oak Bancshares, parent company of Live Oak Bank.   Managing dir ...

Aquesta Insurance Services, formerly part of Cornelius, North Carolina-based Aquesta Bank, has a new owner.   On July 2, insurance broker NPF announced that it had acquired the insurance entity. Terms were not disclosed.   Based in New York City, NFP Corp. provides employee benefits, property and casualty insurance as well as retirement products.   Aqu ...

Corning Credit Union is on the grow again.   In late June, the Corning, New York-based financial institution opened its fifth Wilmington-area location, a lending and membership center in Hampstead. It is located near Lowes Foods in Hampstead Town Center on U.S. 17.   CCU members can visit the center to open deposit accounts, apply for consumer loans, deposit ...

Two new banking tools introduced by Wilmington-based Apiture are designed to help banks give customers a better handle on their spending.   The features, My Spending and Spendable Balance, are “based on extensive user research focused on understanding where consumers struggle with money management,” according to a news release from Apiture, which opened ...

The CEO of Live Oak Bancshares Inc. bought nearly $1.2 million in company stock last week, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. James “Chip” Mahan III bought 40,200 shares of the Wilmington-based company’s stock in two transactions Aug. 1. In one transaction, he bought 600 shares for $29 each. In the other transaction ...