Strategic Insights into Banking & Fintech

Fifth Third combines chairman, CEO roles

Fifth Third combines chairman, CEO roles

Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati has combined the roles of chairman and CEO. The $213 billion-asset company said in a press release that Timothy Spence, its president and CEO, will become its chairman on Jan. 2. He will succeed Nicholas Akins, who will become lead independent director. Separately, Fifth Third said that Jamie Leonard will become chief operating officer on Jan. 2. He is the company’s chief financial officer. Bryan

December 19, 2023
M1 Bancshares in Mo. raises $3M via private placement

M1 Bancshares in Mo. raises $3M via private placement

M1 Bancshares in Clayton, Mo., has raised capital. The parent of the $978 million-asset M1 Bank brought in more than $2.6 million through a private placement of common stock, according to data compiled by Performance Trust Capital Partners. The data did not include the pricing, shares sold, or the investors.

December 19, 2023
Lincoln Bancorp in Iowa hires former Five Star exec as CEO

Lincoln Bancorp in Iowa hires former Five Star exec as CEO

Lincoln Bancorp in Waterloo, Iowa, has recruited a banker from New York to serve as its next CEO. The parent of the $1.9 billion-asset Lincoln Savings Bank said in a press release that Sean Willett will take on the new role on Dec. 29. Willett recently served as chief administrative officer at Five Star Bank. He succeeded Emily Girsch, who served as interim CEO and will return to her previous

December 18, 2023
Software firm CSI buys loan origination platform Hawthorn River

Software firm CSI buys loan origination platform Hawthorn River

CSI, a financial software company in Paducah, Ky., has acquired Hawthorn River, a St. Louis firm that offers a loan origination platform for community banks. The price wasn’t disclosed. “Lending is one of the most critical lines of revenue for community banks, yet it also is the most plagued by inefficiency and outdated technology,” David Culbertson, CSI’s president and CEO, said in the release. The acquisition “is the latest step

December 18, 2023
Pacific Coast Banking School leader to retire in 2024

Pacific Coast Banking School leader to retire in 2024

The CEO of the Pacific Coast Banking School has announced plans to retire. Gretchen Claflin said in a press release that she will also step down as the school’s president at the end of 2024. She was named president in 2016 and CEO two years later. The school, which partners with the University of Washington, hired Korn Ferry to have it find Claflin’s successor. “Our faculty members not only know

December 18, 2023
AmeriNational files applications for bank merger

AmeriNational files applications for bank merger

AmeriNational Community Services in Albert Lea, Minn., has applied to buy Northwest Bancorp. of Illinois in Palatine. AmeriNational, an economic development and affordable housing loan servicer, applied with the Federal Reserve to form a bank holding company to buy the parent of the $208 million-asset First Bank and Trust Co. of Illinois. AmeriNational also applied with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. First Bank to assume certain deposits where AmeriNational is

December 18, 2023
Shore in Md. to restate 3Q results to fix accounting error

Shore in Md. to restate 3Q results to fix accounting error

Shore Bancshares in Easton, Md., will likely report a larger third-quarter loss when it restates financial results to correct an accounting error tied to its purchase of Community Financial. The $5.7 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that the error was tied to the improper recording of the net deferred tax assets (DTAs) tied to the acquisition. The error resulted in a $3.4 million overstatement of the deal’s reported

December 18, 2023
FDIC continues slow work of selling Signature Bank assets

FDIC continues slow work of selling Signature Bank assets

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. continues to create entities to sell of assets tied to the failed Signature Bank. The bridge bank created by the FDIC established two ventures, selling a 5% stake in each to Community Preservation Corp. (CPC), a nonprofit multifamily finance company. CPC, through two affiliated entities, paid $171 million for the stakes. The FDIC said the bridge bank contributed a total of roughly $5.8 billion of

December 16, 2023