Business Management

First Mariner agrees to share plan for improving business with Fed.
First Mariner Bancorp, which lost more than $10 million last year, has reached an agreement with federal regulators to submit plans for how the bank can improve its operations.

Under the agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond last year, First Mariner said it would make efforts to reduce its reliance on borrowed money, upgrade its internal audit program and improve the way it handles potential risks to the company.

First Mariner has also agreed to give the Richmond Fed advance notice of any potential transaction in which the bank would spend a ’significant’ amount of money, the bank said in its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 14.

Baltimore-based First Mariner ‘believes it has taken actions to address these issues and these agreements do not restrict or impede our ability to conduct normal business,’ it said in its annual report.