Regulators lift West Bank memorandum
West Bank officials announced Tuesday that as of June 3, federal and state banking regulators have terminated a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to which the West Des Moines-based bank had been subject since April 2010. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Iowa Division of Banking’s enforcement action required the bank to review existing loans of more than $1 million and to stop lending to borrowers with bad loans, following losses reported by West Bank at the end of 2009. West Bank’s holding company, West Bancorporation Inc., reported first-quarter net income of $4.53 million, up 36 percent from first-quarter 2010 earnings of $3.34 million, and a decrease in nonperforming assets to 1.97 percent of total assets from 3.34 percent a year prior.