CoastalSouth Bancshares in Hilton Head Island, S.C., raised $12 million through a private placement of common stock. The $2 billion-asset company said in a press release that it raised the funds on Jan. 26. It did not disclose any of the investors. CoastalSouth said it plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including continued growth and maintaining bank-level regulatory capital ratios. "CSB's performance during 2023 was outstanding, both

Truist Financial in Charlotte, N.C., agreed to sell investment manager Sterling Capital Management to Guardian Capital Group in Toronto. Guardian said in a press release that it will pay $70 million (plus future payout incentives) for Sterling, which has about $76 billion of assets under management and advisement. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. “The acquisition significantly enhances our overall scale as a global asset manager

Peoples Bank & Trust in Pana, Ill., has agreed to buy Arcola First Bank in Arcola, Ill. The $539 million Peoples applied with regulators on Jan. 31 to acquire the $123 million-asset Arcola. The deal is expected to close in late spring or early summer. The banks originally announced the deal on Jan. 2. The price wasn't disclosed. “We’re excited about the opportunity to have the outstanding employees [at Arcola

First National in Strasburg, Va., reported a quarterly loss due to issues with commercial loans originated by a third-party lender. The $1.4 billion-asset company said in a press release that it lost $851,000 in the fourth quarter. The company set aside $6 million in the quarter to cover potential loan losses. First National said the quarter included $2.7 million in chargeoffs and $2.4 million in specific reserves largely tied to

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., plans to cut 600 jobs, or roughly 3% of its workforce. Roughly 70% of the cuts are outside of Birmingham, with many of the layoffs taking place in the $152 billion-asset company’s mortgage operations. “Our focus is to operate efficiently and effectively while providing the quality service our customers expect. We consistently review our business models based on market demand and overall economic factors,” spokesman

Vast Bank in Tulsa, Okla., once a pioneer in serving as a custodian of cryptocurrency, disabled and removed its crypto mobile banking app. The bank, which shut down the app on Wednesday, informed customers that their crypto mobile banking accounts, including any digital assets held in custody, would be liquidated and closed. Vast's announcement comes on the heels of the disclosure that it entered into a consent order with the

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency assessed a $65 million civil money penalty against Royal Bank of Canada’s U.S. bank. The OCC said in a press release that it also issued a cease-and-desist order to City National Bank in Los Angeles tied to “systemic deficiencies in the bank’s risk management and internal controls.” The OCC said it found that the bank failed to establish effective risk management and

Dogwood State Bank in Raleigh, N.C., has agreed to buy Community First Bancorp. in Seneca, S.C. The $1.4 billion-asset Dogwood said in a press release that it will pay stock for the $685 million-asset Community First. The price wasn’t disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year. Dogwood recently raised $16.4 million in capital. The acquisition "unlocks long-term growth potential for shareholders and access