Kennebec Savings Bank in Augusta, Maine, is planning to open its first branch in Portland, Maine. The $1.5 billion-asset bank recently bought a location in the city, according to B98.5 FM. The branch is expected to open in the first quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank, which opened in 1870, has seven branches. The bank merged with Kennebec Federal Savings last year.

M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y., has formed a new group to focus on lending the real estate investment trusts and investment real estate fund clients. The $204 billion-asset company said in a press release that Sam Bluso will run the newly formed business as its head of institutional real estate. Bluso previously served as head of the REIT corporate finance and banking team at People’s United Financial, which M&T acquired earlier

Newtek Business Services in Boca Raton, Fla., has received approval from the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company. Newtek, which lends to small and midsize companies, would obtain a charter from its pending purchase of National Bank of New York City, which still needs approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Newtek said in a press release that it expects OCC approval “in the coming

Legacy Bank & Trust in Mountain Grove, Mo., has agreed to buy Crain Mortgage in Dallas. Brett Magers, president of the $1 billion-asset Legacy, said in a LinkedIn post that Crain is an FHA multifamily accelerated processing lending. Crain will be rebranded as Legacy Capital. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year. The price wasn’t disclosed. “Legacy Capital will service the long-term/perm financing needs of

The Federal Reserve has terminated a 12-year-old written agreement against Cecil Bancorp in Elkton, Md. The $242.5 million-asset Cecil had been operating under the agreement since June 2010. Among other things, it instructed the company to submit a written plan to improve oversight, hire a consultant to conduct a corporate governance review and strengthen its credit risk practices. The company was also required to reduce its concentration of commercial real

Daylight, a challenger bank focused on the LGBTQ+ community, plans to offer a family planning subscription service after raising $15 million in new capital. Daylight said in a press release that the funding was led by Anthemis Group. Vinay Singh, managing director at Anthemis Group, will join Daylight's board. "Family creation is a major life event for queer people and the challenges we face are increasingly more complex than those

First Community Bankshares in Bluefield, Va., has agreed to buy Surrey Bancorp in Mount Airy, N.C. The $3.6 billion-asset First Community said in a press release that it will pay $113.2 million in stock for the $500 million-asset Surrey. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, priced Surrey at 194% of its tangible book value. Surrey has seven branches, $244 million of loans and $436 million of

Visa will soon have a new CEO. The company said in a press release that Ryan McInerney, its president, will succeed Alfred Kelly on Feb. 1. Kelly, who has been CEO since 2016, will remain chairman. “I cannot think of a finer leader to continue to position Visa at the center of money movement in increasingly innovative ways,” Kelly said in the release. “Ryan has boundless energy and passion for this business and