Bank watchdog questions Southern Exchange's health. (Veribanc Inc.; Southern Exchange Bank)

TAMPA

Is Southern Exchange Bank on shaky ground because of unbooked securities losses and problem loans?

Veribanc Inc., a Massachusetts-based banking research firm whose reports typically receive plenty of attention, thinks so. The bank, however, counters that Veribanc's reports are stale, and recovery is well under way.

Veribanc says the $53-million (assets) bank, located in Tampa's Old Hyde Park Village, had unbooked securities losses of $1.15 million as of Dec. 31, representing 27.8 percent of the bank's shareholder equity.

Only 17 of Florida's 356 banks reported as bad a performance.

Southern Exchange's problems are rooted in a …