Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › Virginia › Bank of the Commonwealth
What happened to Bank of the Commonwealth?
Bank of the Commonwealth in Norfolk, VA failed, and Southern Bank and Trust Company of Mount Olive, NC took it over on Sep 23, 2011. Southern Bank and Trust Company is open today.
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1971Bank of the Commonwealth opens in Norfolk, VA
- Sep 23, 2011FAILEDBank of the Commonwealth failed, and Southern Bank and Trust Company of Mount Olive, NC took it over.FDIC certificate 20408 ends; its business continues under certificate 15359.
- TodayOPEN
Southern Bank and Trust CompanyMain office Mount Olive, NC · FDIC certificate 15359 · 56 offices in 2 states on June 30, 2026Every Southern Bank and Trust Company office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.southernbank.com
If you still have something from Bank of the Commonwealth
A lien that was never released
Bank of the Commonwealth failed on Sep 23, 2011. For a failed bank placed in FDIC receivership, the FDIC may be able to issue the lien release, if the loan was paid off to the bank before it failed or to the FDIC afterward. The FDIC says that where a failed bank had an acquirer, its records in most cases went to that acquirer. Here the chain from the acquirer leads to Southern Bank and Trust Company, which is worth asking too.
Requests go through the FDIC Information and Support Center with the recorded mortgage or title, and proof of payoff. The FDIC says to allow 30 business days once it has every document, and does not take requests by phone or email. Questions: FDIC Resolution Inquiries, 888-206-4662, 8am–4pm Central on weekdays.
An old account, passbook or CD
When a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, insured depositors become its customers right away (here, Southern Bank and Trust Company). Start with Southern Bank and Trust Company, and ask them to search under the name Bank of the Commonwealth.
For failures since mid-1993 the law sets a clock: insured deposits not claimed within 18 months of the FDIC starting to pay depositors are offered to the state of the depositor's last known address on the bank's records. If the state takes them, the owner has 10 years to claim there before the money returns to the FDIC. Check FDIC unclaimed funds search and that state's unclaimed-property program.
A safe deposit box
The FDIC says that when a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, the branches usually reopen the next business day with box access. Today, ask Southern Bank and Trust Company. A box abandoned for years may have been turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain. The office list below shows which bank each office reports under now.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Its offices in the FDIC deposit reports
23 offices filed under this charter in some year from 1994 on. 5 are still open as of June 30, 2026.
| Office | Now |
|---|---|
| 403 Boush StNorfolk, VA | OpenSouthern Bank and Trust Company |
| 617 Volvo PkwyChesapeake, VA | OpenSouthern Bank and Trust Company |
| 3720 Virginia Beach BlvdVirginia Beach, VA | OpenSouthern Bank and Trust Company |
| 221 Western AveSuffolk, VA | OpenSouthern Bank and Trust Company |
| 3343 Western Branch BlvdChesapeake, VA | OpenSouthern Bank and Trust Company |
| 4101 Granby StreetNorfolk, VA | No longer reported |
| 1901 E Ocean View AveNorfolk, VA | No longer reported |
| 229 W. Bute St. Suite 350Norfolk, VA | No longer reported |
| 1870 Kempsville RdVirginia Beach, VA | No longer reported |
| 1124 First Colonial RoadVirginia Beach, VA | No longer reported |
| 2261 Upton DrVirginia Beach, VA | No longer reported |
| 2712 North Mall DriveVirginia Beach, VA | No longer reported |
| 5460 Wesleyan DrVirginia Beach, VA | No longer reported |
| 1217 Cedar RdChesapeake, VA | No longer reported |
| 2600 Taylor RdChesapeake, VA | No longer reported |
| 562 Caratoke HwyMoyock, NC | No longer reported |
| 8468 Caratoke HighwayPowells Point, NC | No longer reported |
| 3732 North Croatan HwyKitty Hawk, NC | No longer reported |
| 26006 Nc Hwy 12, St Waves Plaza Unit 1Waves, NC | No longer reported |
| 1020 London BlvdPortsmouth, VA | No longer reported |
| 4940 West Norfolk RoadPortsmouth, VA | No longer reported |
| Webb Center, 5201 Hampton BoNorfolk, VA | No longer reported |
| 225 South Rosemont RoadVirginia Beach, VA | No longer reported |
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 20408 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.