Proposed digital bank VALT secures conditional OCC approval

Organizers of the proposed VALT Bank have received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The group must raise $25 million before opening its national trust bank. VALT must maintain a 9% tier 1 leverage ratio for its first three years.

The group, consisting of U.S. Bancorp veterans, applied to regulators in November. The proposed bank, which would be fully digital, aims to serve “digitally demanding” small and midsize businesses.

Matt Gediman, who led private wealth management advisory teams at U.S. Bank, would serve as president and CEO. John Elmore, who retired as vice chairman of community banking and branch delivery at U.S. Bank in March 2019, would serve as chairman.