An investor group is looking to form a holding company to buy First National Bank of Brookfield in Illinois. Brookfield HoldCo includes five individuals, including Phil Richard, the $316 million-asset bank’s president. Michael Ryan, the bank’s chairman, and two other directors are a part of the group, which applied with the Fed in mid-December for BHC status. Edward Fitzpatrick, a retired lawyer, is Brookfield HoldCo’s chairman. “At the bank level,

Banks dealing with digital assets must be mindful of potential fraud, legal uncertainties, volatility and inaccurate or misleading disclosures, federal regulators said in a joint statement. The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said the statement reflected “the significant volatility and vulnerabilities” witnessed in the cryptocurrency space over the past year. The statement also warned about potential contagion risk in the

Blue Ridge Bankshares in Charlottesville, Va., which was ordered last year to improve its oversight of fintech partnerships, has hired an outsider to serve as president of its fintech division. The $2.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that Kirsten Muetzel is responsible for managing a portfolio of partners, strengthening regulatory compliance and overseeing its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform. Muetzel worked at the Federal Reserve for nearly 11 years, most

First Merchants in Muncie, Ind., has been freed from a 2019 order from the Department of Justice tied to its fair lending practices. The $17.7 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana approved a joint request from its bank and the DoJ to terminated the order. The order, which was intended to have a four-year term and went into

Trustmark in Jackson, Miss., will recognize a $100 million litigation settlement expense in the fourth quarter after settling longstanding litigation involving Stanford Financial Group. The $17.2 billion-asset Trustmark said the settlement is tied to a lawsuit that was initially filed in August 2009 in the District Court of Harris County, Texas. Trustmark did not admit or deny wrongdoing in connection with the settlement. Trustmark said it determined that it is

Several high-profile acquisitions were scuttled last year for a variety of reasons. Overall, 167 bank deals were announced in 2022, according to Dec. 28 data compiled by Mercer Capital. Many of the transactions were unable to cross the finish line after the parties were unable to secure regulatory approval. Here are some of the notable transactions that were officially nixed in 2022. Blue Ridge Bankshares in Charlottesville, Va., and FVCBankcorp

Citizens Bank of Weston in West Virginia said that its president and CEO will retire. Charles Stalnaker has been in the top roles at the $237 million-asset unit of Citizens Bancshares in 2014, joining the board the next year, according to the Exponent Telegram. Scott Steele was hired as co-CEO on Dec. 5 and was appointed to the board 10 days later. Steele previously served as president and CEO of

Bank consolidation in 2022 fell well short of the prior year’s level. There were 167 bank acquisitions announced through Dec. 28, according to data compiled by Mercer Capital. That represents a 31% decrease from 2021 and 38% from the annual average between 2017 and 2019. The median premium was 154% of a seller’s tangible book value, relatively unchanged from 2021. The high-water mark since the 2008 financial crisis was 174%