Unit is laying off 15% of its staff. Itai Damti, the embedded finance fintech’s co-founder and CEO, announced the cuts in a post. “We believe that our company needs to think in longer time frames,” Damti said. “Banks in the fintech ecosystem have slowed down in the last year due to increased regulatory scrutiny,” he added. “While we believe that the slowness is temporary and Unit will actually benefit from

MC Bancshares in Morgan City, La., and Heritage NOLA Bancorp in Covington, La., have called off their planned merger. The $454 million-asset MC Bancshares agreed in July 2023 to buy the $171 million-asset Heritage NOLA in a roughly $6.5 million deal that was supposed to close by the end of last year. MC Bancshares withdrew its application to buy Heritage NOLA in mid-March. Regulatory delays led the banks to ultimately

ABCT Holdings in Woodway, Texas, raised $3.1 million through a private placement. The parent company of the $954 million-asset Alliance Bank Central Texas raised the capital by selling common stock, according to data compiled by Performance Trust Capital Partners. The number of shares sold, pricing, and investors wasn’t disclosed.

An eleventh-hour offer by an unnamed bank failed to sway the board of Oakwood Bancshares in Oakwood, Texas, from agreeing to sell to Business First Bancshares in Baton Rouge, La. The privately held bank sent an offer to the $843 million-asset Oakwood two days before its exclusivity period with the $6.7 billion-asset Business First was set to expire. Uncertainty over the last-minute proposal led the board to stay the course

VersaBank in Ontario, Canada, received approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to buy Stearns Bank Holdingford in Minnesota. The $3.3 billion-asset VersaBank agreed to buy the $78 million-asset Stearns in June 2022. The deal would allow VersaBank to expand its receivable purchase program business.  The Fed recently approved the proposed acquisition. VersaBank said it is now seek approval from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. "OCC

Evolve Bancorp in West Memphis, Ark., which is embroiled in legal wrangling tied to the bankruptcy of Banking-as-a-Service middleware firm Synapse, is now dealing with an enforcement action from the Federal Reserve. The Fed said in a press release that the cease-and-desist order addresses deficiencies in the $1.6 billion-asset bank's anti-money laundering, risk management and consumer compliance programs. The action came after a 2023 exam determined that the bank engaged

First Interstate BancSystem in Billings, Mont., has begun a search for its next CEO. The $30 billion-asset company said in a press release that Kevin Riley also plans to retire as president after a successor is hired. The board retained an executive recruiting firm to handle the search. Riley joined First Interstate in 2013; he took over the top post in 2015. “We are initiating our succession plan from a

AmeriServ Financial in Johnstown, Pa., has reached a truce in a longstanding battle with an activist investor.   The $1.4 billion-asset company said in a press release that it signed a cooperation and settlement agreement with Driver Opportunity Partners.   Driver agreed to scrap plans to nominate director candidates at AmeriServ’s annual meeting and to voluntarily dismiss all outstanding litigation. The investo also has agreed to a perpetual standstill where