Plains Bancshares in Plains, Kan., has applied with regulators to buy Alden Bancshares in Sterling, Kan. The parent of the $381.4 million-asset Plains State Bank also plans to rebrand as Bank of the Plains on June 20. The bank will pay an undisclosed amount of common stock to buy the parent of the $21.9 million-asset Alden State Bank. “Our two banks bring a rich history of community support having a

Entrust Bank, a de novo planned for Los Altos, Calif., aims to become a minority depository institution (MDI) focused largely on the area’s Asian-American population. Organizers said in their application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that most of the proposed bank’s board represent minority groups. Entrust will primarily target small and midsize businesses, real estate owners and individuals in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. The organizing group, which

The Consumer Financial Protection will soon seek comments for an open banking rule with plans to finalize the rule next year. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra provided the update in a blog post. The bureau is required by a section of the Dodd-Frank Act to finalize the rule. The CFPB aims to use a new personal data rights rule to shift to open banking by removing obstacles for switching banks, jumpstarting

Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., has hired about 50 private bankers and support staff that had been at First Republic Bank. The $222 billion-asset Citizens said in a press release that the bankers are in Boston, New York, San Francisco and Florida. “The addition of these talented and seasoned private bankers helps Citizens significantly boost our growth plans in wealth management and business banking,” Brendan Coughlin, Citizens’ vice chairman

First State Bank & Trust in Fremont, Neb., has rebranded as RVR Bank. The $460.4 million-asset bank said on its website that the name change took place on June 1. The change applied to First State and Two Rivers Bank, which was acquired in December 2021. “The signs on the outside might be changing, but the values and people on the inside remain the same,” the bank said. “As we’ve

Meredith Whitney is back. Whitney, who famously became bearish on the banking sector prior to the 2008 Financial Crisis, has relaunched her eponymous research and advisory practice. Whitney, in a LinkedIn post, said she had spent her hiatus as an institutional investor (she ran a hedge fund from 2013 to 2015) and as CFO of two startups. “None of those experiences could match the passion with which I embraced researching

Fulton Financial in Lancaster, Pa., has hired a former executive at OceanFirst Financial in Red Bank, N.J., to oversee its technology operations. The $27 billion-asset Fulton said in a press release that Karthik Sridharan will serve as chief operations and technology officer. Sridharan will be responsible for leading a team responsible for the bank’s digital customer experience, among other things. Sridharan previously served as OceanFirst’s chief information officer. Before that,

Needham Bank in Needham, Mass., is planning a standard conversion to become a fully stock-owned company. The $3.7 billion-asset bank disclosed in a regulatory filing that NB Bancorp, a newly formed corporation, plans to sell 34.5 million shares of stock at $10 each – for gross proceeds of $34.5 million. The company should raise up to $39.7 million if there is enough demand. Directors, executive officers and their associates are