HBT Financial in Bloomington, Ill., will soon have a new bank president.   The $4.2 billion-asset HBT said in a press release that Patrick Busch will step down as president of Heartland Bank and as the company’s chief lending officer, effective Dec. 31. He will remain at the company as vice chairman.   J. Lance Carter, the company’s president and chief operating officer, will succeed Busch at the bank level.

Lakeland Bancorp in Oak Ridge, N.J., finalized an acquisition and negotiated the settlement of redlining claims by the Justice Department while discussing its pending merger with Provident Financial Services in Iselin, N.J. The $13.6 billion-asset Provident agreed in late September to buy the $10.5 billion-asset Lakeland for $1.3 billion. Lakeland juggled early stage talks with Provident while negotiating to buy 1st Constitution Bancorp, according to a regulatory filing. Lakeland agreed

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles followed through on its plan to name Paul Taylor as its next CEO. The $41 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that Taylor, its president, will succeed Matthew Wagner as CEO on Jan. 1. PacWest said when it hired Taylor as president that it was “anticipated” that he would eventually become CEO, though the transition was originally planned for later in 2023. Wagner

First Foundation has shuffled its management ranks for the second time in less than a month. The $12.3 billion-asset company said in a press release that Scott Kavanaugh, its CEO, had taken on the role. He succeeded Kevin Thompson, who stepped down as chief financial officer and interim president. Amy Djou, First Foundation’s chief accounting officer, was named interim CFO while the company begins to search for a permanent replacement.

BM Technologies in Radnor, Pa., no longer expects to complete its pending purchase of First Sound Bank in 2022. The fintech, which intends to rebrand the $154 million-asset First Sound as BMTX Bank, said in a press release that it will resubmit its merger application to “respond to questions posed by regulators.” The plan is to resubmit the application early next year. BM Technologies said that the parties will need

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