The California Department of Financial Protection has joined the Federal Reserve in accepting some responsibility for the March 10 failure of Silicon Valley Bank. While the regulator asserted in its report that SVB was slow to remediate regulator-identified deficiencies, it acknowledged that its examiners did not take adequate steps to ensure the bank quickly addressed problems. The report also observed that SVB’s unusually rapid growth was insufficiently accounted for in

Goldman Sachs in New York said that U.S. agencies are looking into its dealings with SVB Financial leading up to the March seizure of Silicon Valley Bank. The investment bank disclosed in its quarterly filing that it is “cooperating with and providing information to various governmental bodies.” The filing did not disclose which agencies were looking into the matter. Goldman was one of the underwriters of a proposed capital raise

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles cut its dividend to a penny. The $44.3 billion-asset company said late Friday that it had lowered the quarterly payout, which previously was 25 cents a share. The reduction is a “prudent step” that reflects economic uncertainty, banking sector volatility and potential regulatory changes to capital requirements, CEO Paul Taylor said in a press release. "Our business remains fundamentally sound," he added. PacWest has faced

Blue Ridge Bankshares in Charlottesville, Va., has hired a veteran banker to serve as CEO of its bank. The $2.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that Billy Beale will oversee Blue Ridge Bank, succeeding Brian Plum. Beale was president and CEO of Community Bankers Bank from November 2018 to July 2020, where he remains on the board. Before that, he was CEO of Union Bank & Trust from

FNCB Bancorp in Dunmore, Pa., has decided not to buy any more shares in Quaint Oak Bancorp in Southampton, Pa. The $812 million-asset Quaint Oak disclosed in a regulatory filing that FNCB will terminate an agreement that would have allowed it to buy roughly 116,000 shares of Quaint Oak common stock. The agreement was signed in December when FNCB bought nearly 106,000 Quaint Oak shares, or a roughly 4.9% stake.

Pacific West Bancorp in Portland, Ore., is the latest bank to take steps to avoid brand confusion. The parent of the $282 million-asset Pacific West Bank used a post on its website to address any confusion with PacWest Bancorp, a Los Angeles company that has been the subject of speculation since two high-profile bank failures in March. Pacific West Bancorp “is not in any way related to a similarly named

Republic First Bancorp in Philadelphia is getting out of the mortgage business. The $6.2 billion-asset company also said in a press release that it cut an undisclosed number of jobs in its New York lending and credit teams under an effort to streamline its operations in the market. Republic First said its mortgage business primarily consisted of aggressively priced long-term jumbo mortgages that “no longer aligns with the company’s preference

First Internet Bancorp in Fishers, Ind., is reporting a larger first-quarter loss after recording an additional charge off for a commercial loan. The $4.7 billion-asset company, which had previously announced a $4.7 million partial chargeoff for the participation loan, wrote off another $2.2 million after gathering more information about the relationship. First Internet said in a regulatory filing that it expects to receive payment for the remaining balance of the