CoastalSouth Bancshares in Hilton Head, S.C., has raised $9 million through a private placement of common stock. The $2 billion-asset company said in a press release that it will use the net proceeds for a range of purposes that could include continued growth and maintaining bank-level regulatory capital ratios. The company did not disclose the investors involved. "CSB continues to enjoy strong customer loyalty and meaningful opportunities for growth across

First Miami Bancorp in South Miami, Fla., considered four offers before deciding to negotiate with United Community Banks in Greenville, S.C. The $24 billion-asset United agreed in February to buy the $1 billion-asset First Miami for $115.9 million in stock. First Miami initially considered finding a merger partner in early 2020 but put that effort on pause during the earliest days of the pandemic, according to a regulatory filing tied

Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Boston has added a former Federal Reserve official to its board. The $11.7 billion-asset company said in a press release that Eric Rosengren also joined its bank’s board on April 5. He joined the board’s risk management, capital and compliance and audit committees. Rosengren was president and CEO of the Boston Fed from 2007 to 2021. He is now CEO of Rosengren Consulting and a visiting

First Republic Bank in San Francisco has suspended payment of quarterly cash dividends on its outstanding noncumulative perpetual preferred stock. The $213 billion-asset bank said in a press release that it decided to pause the payments “as a measure of prudent oversight." Tim Coffey, an analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott, wrote in a note to clients that the move "suggests a significant level of operational distress" at First Republic. "The

Aspiration, a climate-focused neobank, plans to lay off more than 180 employees. The Marina Del Ray, Calif., company disclosed the cuts as part of a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) letter filed on March 24. The layoffs will happen between May 26 and June 1. The fintech cut roughly 100 positions in December. "The layoff is necessitated by the need to streamline and restructure the business in light of

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has hired Blackrock Financial Market Advisory to assist in marketing the securities portfolios of the failed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The agency said in a press release that the face value for the Signature securities is about $27 billion. The face value of the Silicon Valley securities is $87 billion. The securities are primarily comprised of agency mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations and

Farmers Bank and Savings in Pomeroy, Ohio, has applied to acquire Nelsonville Home and Savings in Nelsonville, Ohio. The $394 million-asset Farmers Bank submitted its application to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to buy the $35.6 million-asset Nelsonville Home and Savings. The banks also filed a legal notice with the Athens Messenger. Comments are due to the FDIC by May 8. Separately, The Bank in Oberlin, Kan., has applied to

Organizers are looking to form a de novo bank in Ocala, Fla. A group filed an application for deposit insurance with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for Gala Bank. A public notice sent to the Ocala StarBanner lists 13 organizers: Dennis Baxley, Larry Cheshire, Digvijay Gaekwad, William Gaston III, Roger McKellar, Matthew Gray, Richelle Pace, Himanshubhai Patel, Paresh Patel, Ramabhadran Vasudeven, Carl Walls, Thomas Williams and Tommy Word. The legal