A dozen business leaders in North Carolina are "evaluating the possibility" of opening the state's first de novo bank since 2009, American Banker reported Feb. 14.

The group, which is led by David Cuthbertson, has hired Randy Helton, former CEO of American Community Bancshares Inc. Helton told the Banker American Community had been the area's "last locally owned bank."

The investors have yet to disclose the name of the planned bank, but they expect to establish it in Monroe, N.C.