PromiseOne Bank in Duluth, Ga., has agreed to buy two branches in Virginia from Hope Bancorp in Los Angeles. The $715 million-asset PromiseOne just filed its application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to buy the offices, located in Annandale and Centreville. The sales are expected to close in the second half of 2024. The price wasn’t disclosed. Hope Bancorp, which recently agreed to buy Territorial Bancorp in Honolulu, closed

U.S. Bancorp in Minneapolis has a new president. The $684 billion-asset company said in a press release that Gunjan Kedia had taken over the role from Andy Cecere, who remains chairman and CEO. “During her more than seven years with U.S. Bank, Gunjan has shown herself to be a visionary leader who understands our business and is driven to help us perform at our best,” Cecere said in the release.

Catalyst Bancorp in Opelousas, La., reported a quarterly loss after selling securities. The $282 million-asset company lost $4.7 million in the first quarter, which included a $5.5 million loss from selling underwater securities. The company said it plans to reinvest the $42.6 million of proceeds from the sales into new loans, higher-yielding securities, share repurchases and debt repayment. Catalyst also incurred $560,000 of data conversion and other expenses tied to

The Iowa Bankers Association is searching for its next leader. The association said in a press release that John Sorenson will retire as president and CEO at the end of this year. The QTI Group was hired to assist the association in its search for Sorenson’s successor. Sorensen joined the IBA in 1986; he became president and CEO in 1997. Sorensen “has displayed an unwavering commitment to the advancement of

Fintech custodian Altruist raised $169 million in a Series E funding round. The Los Angeles company said in a press release that the round was led by ICONIQ Growth with participation from new investor Granite Capital Management. Adams Street Partners and Sound Ventures also participated. Altruist has raised more than $450 million. Yoonkee Sull, a general partner at ICONIQ Growth, will join Altruist’s board. Proceeds will be used to invest

An insider has been promoted to serve as president of 1st Source Corp. in South Bend, Ind. The $8.7 billion-asset company said in a press release that Andrea Short will remain president and CEO of 1st Source Bank. She is already a member of the company’s board. Short succeeded Christopher Murphy III, who remains chairman and CEO. Short “is a proven leader who believes in our mission of helping our

Encore Bancshares in Little Rock, Ark., has parted ways with its CEO. The $4 billion-asset company said in a press release that Chris Roberts had also resigned as chairman. Phillip Jett was named acting chairman and CEO; he has served as vice chairman and chief banking officer. Burt Hicks will remain president. Encore “is a financially strong institution that has an industry-leading executive team,” Rita Lowman, the company’s lead independent

Baselayer, which uses AI to mitigate fraud and improve onboarding, has raised $6.5 million in its seed round. The fintech said in a press release that the investors included Torch Capital, Afore Capital, Founder Collective, Picus Capital and Gilgamesh Ventures. Individual investors included Eric Woodward, former president of Early Warnings Services, and executives from Stripe, Brex, Valley Bank and Airbase. “For a new or small business, waiting days or weeks