First Lena Corp. in Lena, Ill., has agreed to buy First Savanna Savings Bank in Savanna, Ill. First Lena, the parent of the $325 million-asset Citizens State Bank, said in a press release that it expects to buy the $9.8 million-asset First Savanna in the fourth quarter. The price wasn’t disclosed. Citizens will enter the Savanna market in northwestern Illinois when the deal closes. “Our team is dedicated to delivering an exceptional

Signature Bank in New York plans to dial down its lending in coming months. The $116 billion-asset bank expects quarterly loan growth of $1 billion to $3 billion over the rest of this year. It previously projected increasing the size of its loan portfolio by $4 billion to $7 billion. Commercial real estate and fund banking are the areas where Signature plans to tap the brakes, CEO Joe DePaolo said during a

Bank of Montreal has agreed to buy Radicle Group, an environmental strategies company in Calgary.The Canadian bank said in a press release Wednesday that it expects to close the deal by the end of this year. The price was not disclosed. Radicle develops carbon offsets and helps organizations measure and reduce emissions.  The acquisition “supports BMO's climate ambition to be our clients' lead partner in the transition to a net-zero world, and

A pair of credit unions have changed names. Arizona Federal Credit Union in Phoenix has rebranded as Arizona Financial Credit Union. The $2.8 billion-asset credit union’s members voted in April to switch its federal charter for a state charter. The charter switch will allow Arizona Financial to expand beyond Tucson and Maricopa and Pinal counties. “With this change, we were required to remove ‘federal’ from our name – and ‘financial’ made perfect sense,” the

United Community Banks in Greenville, S.C., has tapped an insider to become its next state president for Tennessee.The $24 billion-asset company said in a press release that John Wilson had succeeded DeVan Ard, who passed away in June. DeVan Ard, who founded Reliant Bank in Brentwood, Tenn., orchestrated its sale in January to United Community. Wilson had been Reliant's president."Due to [Ard's] capable leadership and his team of talented bankers, Reliant received many

Lake Shore Bancorp in Dunkirk, N.Y., will be making some internal improvements after its bank entered into a written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The agreement, included in a Tuesday regulatory filing by the $707 million-asset company, said the OCC "found unsafe or unsound" practices tied to IT security and controls and IT risk governance.As a result, the bank must ensure that it has “competent management

The American Bankers Association has a new leader for its Office of Innovation. The association said in a press release that Brooke Ybarra was also named senior vice president of innovation and strategy. Her role includes identifying promising startups and emerging technologies that could benefit the banking industry. “Brooke has impressed all of us with her understanding of the banking innovation marketplace and the challenges banks face in staying on the cutting

Smaller banks are starting to reduce and eliminate overdraft and nonsufficient funds (NSF) fees. The latest community bank to act is 1st Colonial Bancorp in Cherry Hill, N.J. The $698 million-asset company said in a press release that, effective June 1, reduced its overdraft and NSF fees from $35 to $15. The company said overdraft fees will only apply to transactions that result in an overdraft balance greater than $50 at the