I didn’t know this until last week when I was looking at a list of problem banks, but Business Bank of Skagit County has been operating under a Cease-and-Desist order by the FDIC since September 1. Among other things, the bank has 120 days to get its Tier 1 Capital (or equity) ratio up to 10 percent. As of Sept. 30, the banks’ ratio was at 8 percent.

Business Bank has an office in Bellingham. It’s the fourth bank with Whatcom County branches to be operating under a cease-and-desist order; the others are Frontier Bank, Horizon Bank and Sterling Savings Bank.