Van Buren Bank Enters Consent Agreement With FDIC

First Community Bank of Crawford County has entered into a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that calls for improved capital and reduced concentrations of credit.

In the agreement, the management of the Van Buren bank neither admits nor denies any of the FDIC’s findings of unsafe or unsound banking practices. The agreement appears to be the result of a bank examination conducted in March. The order is dated July 31 but was made public on Friday.

In a news release, the bank did acknowledge some problem loans.

“We have been affected by this economic downturn, just as our customers have been affected. Fortunately, this issues are identified and are limited in scope,” Debbie Gibson, vice president of customer service, said in the news release.

The bank said the FDIC had criticized “a small number of loans, primarily in Northwest Arkansas.”

First Community Bank had assets of $97.25 million as of June 30 and earned $231,000 in the first two quarters of the year. It lost $399,000 in 2011. First Community has two offices in Van Buren and one in Alma.