Touchstone Bankshares in Prince George, Va., laid off an undisclosed number of employees. The parent of the $644 million-asset bank said the job cuts should lower annual expenses by roughly $1 million. The restructuring is expected to lower third-quarter earnings by about $200,000; savings should kick in the following quarter. "We are continuing to implement a long-standing strategic initiative to streamline the bank for enhanced efficiency and profitability," James Black,

Federal Reserve examiners should have stepped up their oversight of Silicon Valley Bank prior to its March failure, according to the central bank’s post-mortem of the California bank’s collapse. The “supervisory approach for SVB did not evolve with SVB’s growth and increased complexity,” the Fed’s Office of the Inspector General said in its report. Examiner resources were “insufficient … and examiners lacked the requisite expertise for supervising a large, complex

Camino Financial in Los Angeles has agreed to buy Fundation in Reston, Va., in a merger of online small business lenders. The deal is being led by private equity firm LL Funds, with further funding from BankUnited and Community Investment Management. They are providing $250 million of equity and debt. Fundation has a focus on small and midsize businesses, with a model that includes partnering with banks. Camino Financial, a

Republic First Bancorp in Philadelphia has reached a truce with an activist investor by involving them in a planned capital raise and reconstituting its board. The $6.2 billion-asset Republic said in a press release that George Norcross III, Gregory Braca and Philip Norcross will invest $35 million in the company. Republic will raise at least $40 million of additional capital from other investors. Republic said it expects to use the

Peoples Financial Services in Scranton, Pa., has agreed to buy FNCB Bancorp in Dunmore, Pa. The $3.7 billion-asset Peoples said in a press release that it will buy the $1.9 billion-asset FNCB for $129 million in stock. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024. Peoples will remain headquartered in Scranton, while the bank will be based in Dunmore. The deal is expected to by 59%

Carver Bancorp in New York, one of the nation’s biggest black-run banks, is facing a hostile takeover. Dream Chasers Capital Group, which owns a 5.5% stake in the $712 million-asset Carver, said in a press release that it had offered to boost its stake to 35%. The investor offered $3 a share, a 39% premium to Carver’s closing price on Tuesday. Dream Chasers, a New York-based minority-run investment fund, said it

Former MBNA executive Frank Bramble has died. Bramble, who was executive vice chairman of the monoline credit card company when it was sold to Bank of America in 2006, had a heart attack, according to the Baltimore Sun. He was 75. Bramble was still serving as a director at Bank of America, a post he had held since the banking giant closed on its purchase of MBNA. Bramble’s career included

Washington Trust Bancorp in Westerly, R.I., has reached a settlement with the Justice Department over claims its bank violated fair lending laws. The $7 billion-asset company said in a press release that the settlement addressed violations that allegedly took place between 2016 and 2021. Washington Trust denied the allegations, stating that it entered into the settlement to “avoid the expense and distraction of potential ligation.” Washington Trust agreed to provide