Venture Coast Bank in Calif. gets conditional FDIC approval

An organizing group has received conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to create Venture Coast Bank in Palo Alto, Calif.

The group must raise $30 million in capital before the bank can open.

Organizers, in their May application, detailed plans for a one-branch community bank serving small and midsize businesses, retail customers, and local organizations. Venture Coast’s organizers plan to operate without affiliates or a complex organizational structure, leaning on a “client-oriented service model,” a clear capital structure, and a focus on deposit, lending, cash management, and business accounts.

Ravi Mallela, the proposed CEO, previously served as chief financial officer at NMI Holdings, First Hawaiian Group, and First Hawaiian Bank. Nick Deshpande, the proposed president and chief operating officer, worked at Wells Fargo and MUFG in areas such as finance, treasury, risk, technology, M&A and bank transformation.

The proposed board includes Kenneth Justice, who spent more than 35 years in FDIC risk management supervision, and P.K. Prakash, who has worked at the California Banking Department, Wells Fargo, and MUFG. Jim Neckopulos, another proposed board member, was a director at State Bank of India California.