Strategic Insights into Banking & Fintech

Boston Trust gets closer to becoming a national trust bank

Boston Trust gets closer to becoming a national trust bank

Boston Trust Walden Co. in Boston has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to convert from a state-chartered bank to a national trust bank. The company, which manages about $16 billion of assets, will become Boston Trust Walden NA on Jan. 1. The board chose to obtain a national trust bank charter because it enables the bank to more easily provide trust and fiduciary

November 29, 2025
Fintech MoneyLion settles CFPB litigation for $1.8 million

Fintech MoneyLion settles CFPB litigation for $1.8 million

MoneyLion agreed to pay nearly $1.8 million to resolve a lawsuit from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB had alleged that the fintech charged more than the maximum 36% interest rate allowed by the Military Lending Act on loans to service members. MoneyLion, as part of the settlement, is prohibited from extending consumer credit at rates higher than 36% to borrowers for whom the MLA cap applies, including credit

November 25, 2025
Plumas in Nevada enters sale-leaseback deal for two Calif. office buildings

Plumas in Nevada enters sale-leaseback deal for two Calif. office buildings

Plumas Bancorp in Reno, Nev., entered into a sale-leaseback transaction for two administrative offices in Quincy, Calif. The company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it sold the buildings to BBS Branch III for nearly $5.6 million. The bank then agreed to lease the properties for 15 years, with three five-year renewal options. The initial annual rent is $463,000 with 3% annual increases. The transaction resulted in a $5.5 million

November 24, 2025
Fulton Financial to buy activist-challenged Blue Foundry in New Jersey

Fulton Financial to buy activist-challenged Blue Foundry in New Jersey

Fulton Financial in Lancaster, Pa., has agreed to buy Blue Foundry Bancorp in Rutherford, N.J. The $32 billion-asset Fulton said in a press release that it will pay $243 million in stock for the $2.2 billion-asset Blue Foundry. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, priced Blue Foundry at 77% of its tangible book value. The deal is expected to be more than 5% accretive to

November 24, 2025
Green Dot to be split up with CommerceOne buying its bank

Green Dot to be split up with CommerceOne buying its bank

Green Dot in Provo, Utah, is splitting up to sell to CommerceOne Financial in Birmingham, Ala., and Smith Ventures. The fintech said in a press release that the $835 million-asset CommerceOne will buy its bank and related assets and emerge as a new publicly traded company.  Smith Ventures will buy and privatize Green Dot’s nonbank fintech assets and operations. The bank will serve as the fintech's issuing bank under a

November 24, 2025
Investor sues Comerica, claiming “flawed” sale to Fifth Third

Investor sues Comerica, claiming “flawed” sale to Fifth Third

HoldCo Asset Management, a recent gadfly to a number of publicly traded banks, has alleged in a lawsuit Comerica’s directors breached their fiduciary duties to investors by rushing into a decision to sell the Dallas company to Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati. The $78 billion-asset Comerica agreed last month to sell to the $210 billion-asset Fifth Third for $10.9 billion in a deal negotiated over just 17 days, according to

November 21, 2025
CBB Bancorp in Los Angeles chooses insider as new CEO

CBB Bancorp in Los Angeles chooses insider as new CEO

CBB Bancorp in Los Angeles has a new CEO. The company said in a press release that Seungho Park had also become its president. Park, who was chief commercial banking officer, succeeded Richard Koh, who had led the company since April. Park "brings years of experience in the Korean American banking market, and he has consistently demonstrated the ability to generate profitable growth." Soon Pak, the company's chair, said in

November 21, 2025
Bank of the Plains in Kansas sets stage for new leader

Bank of the Plains in Kansas sets stage for new leader

Bank of the Plains in Plains, Kan., will enter 2026 with a new CEO. The $440 million-asset bank said in a press release that Tina Call will succeed Gene Dikeman when he retires on Jan. 1. Dikeman will remain on the board. Call has been the bank's president. “Under Gene’s leadership, Bank of the Plains has grown to serve many more customers and communities in Kansas,” Dan Clawson, the bank's

November 21, 2025