Central Valley Community Bancorp in Fresno, Calif., has agreed to buy Community West Bancshares in Goleta, Calif. The $2.5 billion-asset Central Valley said in a press release that it will pay $99.4 million for the $1.1 billion-asset Community West. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, priced Community West at 87.2% of its tangible book value. Central Valley will have 27 branches when the deal closes.

A group of investors in Costa Mesa, Calif., has agreed to buy Northern California Bancorp in Monterey, Calif. PCB Financial, formed for the purpose of the acquisition, will pay an undisclosed amount of cash and stock for the parent of the $212 million-asset Monterey County Bank, according to the Monterey County Weekly. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year. Charles Chrietzberg, Monterey County Bank’s chairman,

A group in Washington, D.C., is looking to form a bank to serve Ethiopian-Americans. Organizers of the proposed Moodai International Bank submitted an application on Oct. 5 with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for deposit insurance. The application wasn’t immediately available. The Ethiopian American Investment Group said on the proposed bank’s website that it would be the nation’s first Ethiopian-American-owned bank. “Our mission is to help our community reach their

First Savings Financial Group in Jeffersonville, Ind., is getting out of national mortgage lending.   The $2.3 billion-asset company said in a regulatory filing that it will exit the business by the end of this year.   First Savings said that loan applications fell to their lowest level in two decades this year due to rising mortgage rates and housing prices, a decline in 1-4 family housing inventory and continued

Primis Financial in McLean, Va., has a new bank president. The $3.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that Rick Fulk had become president of Primis Bank. Fulk previously served as the bank’s regional executive for Virginia’s Richmond and Hampton Roads areas. Fulk succeeded Dennis Zember Jr., who remains president and CEO of the company and CEO of the bank. The promotion "is an exciting moment for our company

SVB Financial Group in Santa Clara, Calif., has sold its investment banking business to the unit’s management team. The company, which saw its bank fail in March, said in a press release that SVB Securities was rebranded as Leerink Partners. The investment bank’s management team, led by CEO Jeff Leerink, was backed by funds managed by The Baupost Group. The sale was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the

An activist investor has recruited a banking veteran to aid in his quest for board seats at AmeriServ Financial in Johnstown, Pa. Driver Management, run by Abbott Cooper, said in a regulatory filing that it will nominate Keith Mestrich, retired CEO of Amalgamated Financial in New York, to stand for election to the $1.4 billion-asset AmeriServ’s board. Cooper, whose firm owns about 2.5% of AmeriServ’s outstanding shares, also plans to

Riverview Bancorp in Vancouver, Wash., agreed to pay a salary to its former president and CEO over the next year. The $1.6 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it will pay Kevin Lycklama his $410,000 monthly salary for the next 12 months – or roughly $4.9 million. Lycklama, in exchange, agreed to certain waiver and release of claims, as well as post-employment covenants with respect to confidential data