Coast as it once was is done for as of Dec. 3, 2007: the bank was bought out in what we deem a “firesale” transaction by First Banks of St. Louis. See this article for more. Coast received $1.86 per share in the buyout. As recently as January 2007, Coast’s stock traded for over $16.

If there is any doubt as to the “firesale” status of this buyout, we direct you to this Herald-Tribune article from immediately prior to the sale which states:

If the merger is rejected, Bradenton-based Coast Bank could become the fourth U.S. bank failure of 2007, and the stockholders would be left empty-handed.

The bank got itself into trouble on pre-construction loans connected to a builder called CCI. When that builder went bust, the loans went bad. Bank borrowers and shareholders were not happy (from August 2007) :

At least 113 - and counting.

That’s how many lawsuits have been filed through Friday against Coast Bank of Florida and its parent, Coast Financial

…

At least 109 have been filed in Charlotte, Highlands and Sarasota counties since June 14. The suits are by investors who used Coast Bank to finance the construction of new houses by Construction Compliance Inc. The St. Petersburg builder was unable to finish most of the houses and later filed for bankruptcy, leaving the bank potentially on the hook for $110 million in loans committed to 482 borrowers.

…The suits claim the bank committed fraud and breached its fiduciary duty by allowing the homes to be sold to investors with no money down in return for promised profits once the homes were sold. The suits seek to have the investors’ mortgages rescinded and forgiven by Coast Bank, which the bank is unwilling to do.

By late spring, the FDIC had set up camp at the bank and started “regulating”, including issuing a cease-and-desist, firing the CEO, and setting up new oversight:

They broke their vow of silence dramatically Friday by forcing the resignation of president Brian F. Grimes and accusing the Bradenton bank of “unsafe and unsound banking practices and violations of law and regulations.”

…

As part of a long list of demands, the regulators ordered Coast to establish a “compliance committee” that would contain at least 3 members independent of the bank. It told the bank to collect on or write off some of its problem loans and boost its capital by selling more stock or hitting up board members for more cash.