Gardner Bancshares in Lenexa, Kan., is working through a cease-and-desist order from the Federal Reserve. The order, which followed an October 2022 examination, requires the company and its $100 million-asset Small Business Bank to address issues that include staffing, internal controls, credit risk management, and information security. The bank must also improve controls tied to anti-money laundering regulations and the Bank Secrecy Act. Gardner and its bank agreed to seek regulatory

Members of St. Lawrence Federal Credit Union have rejected the Ogdensburg, N.Y., credit union’s proposed merger with SeaComm Federal Credit Union in Massena, N.Y. The $806 million-asset SeaComm agreed in March to absorb the $234 million-asset St. Lawrence FCU. But St. Lawrence’s members voted against the combination by a 2-to-1 margin. “We are disappointed with the final outcome of the membership vote,” Scott Wilson, SeaComm’s president and CEO, said in

The organizers of the proposed Nova Bank in Huntsville, Ala., have surpassed their capital-raising goal. The proposed de novo made the announcement on its LinkedIn page. “To all our investors, we can’t thank you enough for your support and confidence in us!” the group said. The group originally applied with regulators in August 2021 but withdrew the application last spring. A new application was submitted in September 2022, with a

Add 1895 Bancorp of Wisconsin in Greenfield to the list of banks repositioning their balance sheets. The $553 million-asset company said in a press release that it sold $21.4 million of securities for an after-tax loss of $1.4 million. Proceeds contributed to the purchase of about $21.4 million of government-sponsored mortgage-backed securities. The transactions should increase earnings by about $700,000 annually, meaning the loss should be recouped in about two

Trustmark in Jackson, Miss., will set aside $6.5 million in the third quarter to cover the potential resolution of a nearly four-year-old legal matter.   The $18.4 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it has reached a settlement with the court-appointed receiver for Madison Timber Properties and Arthur Lamar Adams.   The receiver filed a lawsuit in December 2019 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of

BM Technologies in Wayne, Pa., said its co-CEO resigned after just five months on the job.   The fintech disclosed in a regulatory filing that Rajinder Singh stepped down on Aug. 29 “for personal reasons.” The company said his departure was not due to any disputes or disagreements/   BM Technologies said it had initiated a search to fill the vacancy created, though Luvleen Sidhu will serve as its sole

Five Star Credit Union in Dothan, Ala., has agreed to buy Wilcox County State Bank in Abbeville, Ga. – the fifth credit union-bank merger announced this week. The $773 million-asset Five Star did not disclose the price it will pay for the $178 million-asset bank. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. The credit union announced earlier this week that it would buy the $215 million-asset OneSouth

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union in Lansing has announced its second bank acquisition in the past week. The $7.6 billion-asset credit union plans to buy the $146 million-asset Algonquin State Bank in Algonquin, Ill., from First Algonquin, the bank’s parent company. The price wasn’t disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter. The announcement comes two days after the credit union said it plans to buy