OptimumBank Holdings in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., raised nearly $8 million by selling common and preferred stock.   The $791 million-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it entered into subscription agreements with six investors to sell 1.5 million shares of common stock and 526,000 preferred shares.   OptimumBank also entered into registration rights agreements with five of the investors, requiring the company to register 1.4 million shares of common

Five Star Bancorp in Rancho Cordova, Calif., is looking to raise about $71 million from selling common stock. The $3.6 billion-asset company said in a press release that it should complete the offering on April 1. Five Star plans to use the offering’s net proceeds for general corporate purposes and to support continued growth. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods was the bookrunner; Stephen and D.A. Davidson & were co-managers.

Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., has put its chief financial officer on leave following his arrest on child molestation charges. The $52.4 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that its board placed Brendon Falconer on leave after becoming "aware of a situation involving … Falconer relating to a personal matter unrelated to the company." Multiple news outlets recently reported that Falconer was charged with two counts of child

Financial Institutions in Warsaw, N.Y., has sold its insurance agency to NFP Property & Casualty Services. The $6.2 billion-asset parent of Five Star Bank said in a press release that it sold SDN Insurance Agency for an undisclosed amount. William Gallagher, the agency’s president, joined NFP as part of the deal. “In the nearly 10 years since we entered the insurance space, it has proven to be a valuable line

Northrim BanCorp in Anchorage, Alaska, has its next leader lined up. The company said in a press release that Mike Huston will become its CEO on April 6. Huston, who was named president in 2022, will also serve as chief operating officer. Huston will succeed Joe Schierhorn, who will remain chairman. “We continue to implement our strategic plan for executive leadership succession and … Huston is a key component of

Santander U.S. has hired the former head of Marcus. The bank said in a press release that Swati Bhatia, as head of retail banking and transformation, will oversee consumer and business banking, along with digital transformation efforts. Bhatia succeeded Pierre Habis, who joined Synchrony Financial last year. Santander "has reached an inflection point as we progress towards becoming a national, digital bank with branches,” Tim Wennes, CEO of Santander U.S., said

The organizers for a proposed Houston bank have added more directors, hired a new CEO, and again reapplied for deposit insurance. The group first applied with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in February 2022 to form Houston Bank of Commerce & Trust, reapplying in May 2023. The latest application has shortened the proposed de novo’s name to Houston Bank & Trust. “The organizers have significantly reconstituted their group by adding

Ally Financial in Charlotte, N.C., has hired Michael Rhodes as its new CEO. Ally said in a press release that Rhodes will start on April 29. He will also join Ally’s board. Rhodes recently served as CEO of Discover Financial Services, which is being acquired by Capital One Financial. He will replace Jeffrey Brown, who stepped down in January. Doug Timmerman, Ally’s president of dealer financial services, has been serving