Penns Woods in Pa. sets up $20M stock offering
Penns Woods Bancorp in Williamsport, Pa., could raise $20 million by selling common stock. The $2 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had hired D.A. Davidson to serve as the distribution agent to sell shares over time as part of an “at-the-market” offering. Penns Woods said in its prospectus that net proceeds could […]
Republic First investor pauses litigation to back capital raise
An activist investor group has paused litigation against Republic First Bancorp as the Philadelphia company explores capital-raising options. The shareholder group, which includes George Norcross, III, Gregory Braca and Philip Norcross said in a press release that it supports the $6.2 billion-asset company’s efforts to bring in more capital. “We remain actively engaged with the […]
Citizens Financial in R.I. launches private bank
Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., is forming a private bank. The $233 billion-asset company shared the news at a conference, noting that it had hired 50 senior bankers and 100 support staff from the failed First Republic Bank. Citizens will initially operate out of Boston, south Florida, New York and California. The plan is […]
Investor group to buy Midland Federal in Illinois
An investor group has agreed to buy Midland Capital Holdings in Bridgeview, Ill. Midfed Acquisition will pay $31 to $32.50 a share in cash for the parent company of the $118 million-asset Midland Federal Savings and Loan Association. The deal is expected to close in the first or second quarter. The purchase price is subject […]
Truist unveils $750 million expense reduction plan
Truist Financial in Charlotte, N.C., will look to reduce annual expenses by $750 million by the end of next year as part of a plan that will include “significant” job cuts. The $555 billion-asset company disclosed in a conference presentation that it expects to limit year-over-year expense growth to 1% in 2024, compared to 7% […]
Organizers planning new bank in New Jersey
A group is looking to form a bank in Paramus, N.J. Organizers applied with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for deposit insurance for the proposed Five Rivers Bank. The application wasn’t immediately available. Mark Campbell is expected to serve as the bank’s chairman, president and CEO, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was president and […]
Veritex hires UMB exec to serve as its bank president
Veritex Holdings in Dallas will soon have a new bank president. The $12.5 billion-asset company said in a press release that Dominic Karaba will also become chief banking officer of Veritex Community Bank on Sept. 18. Chartwell Partners handled the search. Karaba recently served as president of commercial banking at UMB Financial. He will report […]
Merchants in Ind. to sell four Illinois branches
Merchants Bancorp in Carmel, Ind., has agreed to sell four Illinois branches. The $13.1 billion-asset Merchants said in a press release that Bank of Pontiac in Pontiac, Mich., will buy offices in Paxton, Melvin and Piper City. CBI Bank & Trust in Muscatine, Iowa, agreed to buy a branch in Joy, Ill. The $962 million-asset Bank of Pontiac will […]
FDIC: First Republic liquidity rating was ‘too generous’
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. determined that the liquidity risk management component of the CAMELS rating for First Republic Bank was “too generous” prior to the San Francisco bank’s failure. The agency, in a 63-page report debriefing First Republic’s collapse, noted that the bank’s business model and management strategies made it vulnerable to interest rate […]
Icon Business Bank debuts in California
Icon Business Bank has opened in Riverside, Calif. The de novo opened on Aug. 22, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Organizers received conditional approval from the FDIC in late January. They were required to raise $22.7 million before opening the bank. Carpenter Acquisition Corp. applied with the FDIC in May 2022 to form […]
Citizens National in Ohio announces CEO’s planned retirement
Citizens National Bank of Bluffton in Ohio said its CEO will retire. The $981 million-asset bank said in a press release that Michael Romey will step down by the end of this year. Romey joined the bank as president and CEO in 1986. Romey stepped down as president in 2019. “Mike led CNB through many […]
Bank failures weighed down industry’s 2Q profit
High-profile bank failures weighed down the banking industry’s aggregate profitability, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s quarterly banking profile. Overall profit fell by 11.3% in the second quarter from a quarter earlier, to $70.8 billion. The FDIC said that net income would have been flat when excluding the impact of the failures of Silicon […]
Dime in NY forms health care banking division
Dime Community Bancshares in Hauppauge, N.Y., has formed a health care banking division. The $13.8 billion-asset company said in a press release that it had hired Daniel Csillag as group head of the newly formed group. He is responsible for building out the health care commercial banking business in the long-term care space. Csillag previously […]
Leader Bank in Mass. launches tech, VC banking division
Leader Bank in Arlington, Mass., has hired a former First Republic Bank executive to build a startup banking division. The $4 billion-asset bank hired Vitaliy Schafer as director or venture capital, private equity and technology banking to oversee a push for tech and VC clients. Schafer was a managing director at First Republic, which […]
Former First NBC CEO Ryan given 14-year prison sentence
Ashton Ryan Jr., former CEO of the failed First NBC Bank, was sentenced to serve 14 years in prison after being convicted of dozens of counts of bank fraud, conspiracy and related charges. Ryan, who was found guilty of 46 charges in February, will also pay more than $214 million in restitution, according to NOLA.com. […]
First Western in N.D. to buy Minnesota insurance agency
First Western Bank & Trust in Minot, N.D., has applied to acquire an insurance agency in Lismore, Minn. The $2 billion-asset First Western submitted an application on Sept. 1 with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to buy Lismore State Agency. The deal is structured as a purchase and assumption agreement.
FDIC set to sell $33B of Signature Bank CRE loans
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans to market $33 billion of commercial real estate loans that were held by the failed Signature Bank in New York. The loans, which the FDIC retained after regulators closed Signature in March, are largely secured by apartments in the New York area. The FDIC said it is setting up […]
Fed hits Kansas bank with C&D order
Gardner Bancshares in Lenexa, Kan., is working through a cease-and-desist order from the Federal Reserve. The order, which followed an October 2022 examination, requires the company and its $100 million-asset Small Business Bank to address issues that include staffing, internal controls, credit risk management, and information security. The bank must also improve controls tied to anti-money […]
NY credit union’s members reject proposed merger
Members of St. Lawrence Federal Credit Union have rejected the Ogdensburg, N.Y., credit union’s proposed merger with SeaComm Federal Credit Union in Massena, N.Y. The $806 million-asset SeaComm agreed in March to absorb the $234 million-asset St. Lawrence FCU. But St. Lawrence’s members voted against the combination by a 2-to-1 margin. “We are disappointed with […]
Proposed Ala. bank surpasses initial capital goal
The organizers of the proposed Nova Bank in Huntsville, Ala., have surpassed their capital-raising goal. The proposed de novo made the announcement on its LinkedIn page. “To all our investors, we can’t thank you enough for your support and confidence in us!” the group said. The group originally applied with regulators in August 2021 but […]
Wisconsin bank is latest to shed securities at a loss
Add 1895 Bancorp of Wisconsin in Greenfield to the list of banks repositioning their balance sheets. The $553 million-asset company said in a press release that it sold $21.4 million of securities for an after-tax loss of $1.4 million. Proceeds contributed to the purchase of about $21.4 million of government-sponsored mortgage-backed securities. The transactions should […]
Trustmark taking $6.5M charge in 3Q to resolve litigation
Trustmark in Jackson, Miss., will set aside $6.5 million in the third quarter to cover the potential resolution of a nearly four-year-old legal matter. The $18.4 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it has reached a settlement with the court-appointed receiver for Madison Timber Properties and Arthur Lamar Adams. The receiver […]
BM Technologies co-CEO resigns five months after taking job
BM Technologies in Wayne, Pa., said its co-CEO resigned after just five months on the job. The fintech disclosed in a regulatory filing that Rajinder Singh stepped down on Aug. 29 “for personal reasons.” The company said his departure was not due to any disputes or disagreements/ BM Technologies said it had initiated […]
Five Star CU announces another bank purchase
Five Star Credit Union in Dothan, Ala., has agreed to buy Wilcox County State Bank in Abbeville, Ga. – the fifth credit union-bank merger announced this week. The $773 million-asset Five Star did not disclose the price it will pay for the $178 million-asset bank. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. […]
Michigan State University FCU lines up second bank purchase
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union in Lansing has announced its second bank acquisition in the past week. The $7.6 billion-asset credit union plans to buy the $146 million-asset Algonquin State Bank in Algonquin, Ill., from First Algonquin, the bank’s parent company. The price wasn’t disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the first […]