First Republic Bank in San Francisco has suspended payment of quarterly cash dividends on its outstanding noncumulative perpetual preferred stock. The $213 billion-asset bank said in a press release that it decided to pause the payments “as a measure of prudent oversight." Tim Coffey, an analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott, wrote in a note to clients that the move "suggests a significant level of operational distress" at First Republic. "The

Aspiration, a climate-focused neobank, plans to lay off more than 180 employees. The Marina Del Ray, Calif., company disclosed the cuts as part of a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) letter filed on March 24. The layoffs will happen between May 26 and June 1. The fintech cut roughly 100 positions in December. "The layoff is necessitated by the need to streamline and restructure the business in light of

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has hired Blackrock Financial Market Advisory to assist in marketing the securities portfolios of the failed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The agency said in a press release that the face value for the Signature securities is about $27 billion. The face value of the Silicon Valley securities is $87 billion. The securities are primarily comprised of agency mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations and

Farmers Bank and Savings in Pomeroy, Ohio, has applied to acquire Nelsonville Home and Savings in Nelsonville, Ohio. The $394 million-asset Farmers Bank submitted its application to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to buy the $35.6 million-asset Nelsonville Home and Savings. The banks also filed a legal notice with the Athens Messenger. Comments are due to the FDIC by May 8. Separately, The Bank in Oberlin, Kan., has applied to

Organizers are looking to form a de novo bank in Ocala, Fla. A group filed an application for deposit insurance with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for Gala Bank. A public notice sent to the Ocala StarBanner lists 13 organizers: Dennis Baxley, Larry Cheshire, Digvijay Gaekwad, William Gaston III, Roger McKellar, Matthew Gray, Richelle Pace, Himanshubhai Patel, Paresh Patel, Ramabhadran Vasudeven, Carl Walls, Thomas Williams and Tommy Word. The legal

Western Alliance Bancorp. in Phoenix said that deposit balances have stabilized in the past two weeks. The $65 billion-asset company said in a press release that it had “elevated net deposit outflows” in the wake of the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Most of those outflows came from its technology and innovation and settlement services groups. Though it added $900 million of deposits between March 20 and

NuMark Credit Union in Joliet, Ill., has agreed to buy Pioneer State Bank in Earlville, Ill. The $637 million-asset NuMark said in a press release that it will buy substantially all of the $122 million-asset bank’s assets and liabilities from NBE Bancshares in a cash transaction. The price wasn’t disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. “It is clear to us that our organizations share a

Webster Financial in Stamford, Conn., has a new bank president. The $71.3 billion-asset company said in a press release that Luis Massiani had accepted the post. He will remain chief operating officer. Massiani joined Webster following its January merger with Sterling Bancorp, where he was bank president and chief operating officer. Massiani succeeded John Ciulla, who remains Webster’s president and CEO and the bank’s CEO.