Farmington State Bank in Farmington, Wash., is the latest bank to announce plans to get out of the crypto business. The $98.9 million-asset bank, which has operated as Moonstone Bank and gained notoriety when it was disclosed that it had received an $11.5 million investment from an FTX affiliate, said in a press release that plans to close crypto accounts. Farmington, which plans to scrap the Moonstone brand, said it

First Community Bankshares in Bluefield, Va., found itself negotiating one-on-one with Surrey Bancorp in Mount Airy, N.C., after another potential bidder backed out early in the process. The $3.6 billion-asset First Community agreed in November to buy the $500 million-asset Surrey for $113.2 million in stock in a deal expected to close in the second quarter. First Community initially expressed interest in Surrey last summer, around the time Surrey was

Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., unveiled a new wealth management brand that combines a number of its wealth advisory and investment management businesses. The $46 billion-asset company said in a press release that 1834 was formed to meet the wealth advisory needs of high-net-worth individuals and institutions. The brand reflects the year the bank was founded. Chady AlAhmar, Jim Steiner and Joe Colianni are in charge of the business,

AmeriServ Financial in Johnstown, Pa., has responded to Driver Management, stating that its board tried to work with the activist investor before it went public with a proxy challenge. Driver Management, led by Abbott Cooper, recently disclosed plans to nominate three directors to stand for election to the $1.4 billion-asset AmeriServ’s board. Driver owns about 8.1% of AmeriServ’s outstanding stock.  AmeriServ disclosed in a regulatory filing that its board is

Florence Bank in Florence, Mass., has a new CEO. Matt Garrity was also named president of the $1.9 billion-asset bank, according to MassLive. Garrity succeeded Michael Lynch, a senior commercial lender who had been interim president and CEO since Kevin Day retired in late November.   Garrity previously served as chief lending officer and head of residential lending at Premier Bank.   The search for a permanent leader began in

Parke Bancorp in Washington Township, N.J., is missing a "significant" amount of cash that was held by a third party for its cannabis-related clients. The $2 billion-asset company said in a press release that an armored car company its uses to store and transport cash reported the money was missing. Parke didn’t state when the cash disappeared or precisely how much is missing, though it said about $9.5 million had

Horizon Bancorp in Michigan City, Ind., has its next CEO lined up. The $7.7 billion-asset company said in a press release that Thomas Prame, its president, will succeed Craig Dwight on June 1. Dwight will remain chairman, while Prame will still serve as president after becoming CEO. Dwight has been the company’s CEO since 2001. Prame joined Horizon last August. He previously served as CEO of community banking at First

Encore Bancshares in Little Rock, Ark., has added a former banker with ties to one of its investors to its board. The $3.5 billion-asset company said in a press release that Kelly Brown had also joined the board of Encore Bank. Brown is a partner at Patriot Financial Partners, a private equity firm that became Encore’s first institutional investor when it participated in the company’s 2022 private placement. Brown founded