First Capital Bancorp Inc., the bank holding company for First Capital Bank, and Eastern Virginia Bankshares Inc. have called off their merger, citing the long process to get regulatory approval. The merger was announced April 3 and shareholders from Glen Allen-based First Capital and Tappahannock-based Eastern Virginia, the bank holding company for EVB, had approved the transaction. The combination would have created the second-largest community bank based in the Richmond area and one of the 10 largest in Virginia, based on total assets.

About the time the U.S. Treasury was breaking out the taxpayer checkbook, Eastern Virginia Bank was breaking out the dark-green-and-white banners: “EVB has money to lend,“ they say. Even before a January phone call from Washington—followed by reams of paperwork—announcing the Tappahannock-based bank’s $24 million capital infusion, President and Chief Executive Joe A. Shearin was doing everything he could to get the word out that he wanted to lend money.