Partners Bancorp in Salisbury, Md., which recently terminated an agreement to sell to OceanFirst Financial, has a new CEO. The $1.7 billion-asset Partners said in a press release that John Breda succeeded Lloyd Harrison, who remains at the company as a senior executive vice president. Breda remains president and CEO of Bank of Delmarva, while Harrison is still CEO of Virginia Partners Bank. “I want to thank Lloyd for his

Kearny Financial in Fairfield, N.J., plans to reduce annual operating expenses by 5% to 10%. The $7.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that it will cut costs by reducing vendor expenses, automating or outsourcing “routine activities” and realigning its workforce. Kearny also restructured its balance sheet, selling $121.4 million of lower-yielding available-for-sale debt securities for an estimated after-tax loss of about $11 million. The company reinvested proceeds from

Northeast Bank in Portland, Maine, disclosed that it has lined up the purchase of nearly $1.2 billion of commercial real estate loans. The $1.7 billion-asset bank said in a press release that, since Sept. 30, it has bought, or has agreed to buy, the loans through a series of agreements. The bank did not disclose the identities of the sellers. Northeast said its CRE portfolio totaled $996.8 million at the

Signature Bank in New York could reduce its digital assets deposits by more than $8 billion in the coming weeks. The $114.5 billion-asset bank said during a Goldman Sachs conference that it plans to reduce its exposure to digital assets deposits to 15% to 20% of total deposits, or $8 billion to $10 billion, over time. Signature had $23.5 billion of digital-asset-related deposits on Nov. 14, or roughly 23% of

Veridian Credit Union in Waterloo, Iowa, has agreed to buy American Investors Bank and Mortgage in Eden Prairie, Minn. The $6.7 billion-asset Veridian said in a press release that it expects to complete the purchase of the $113 million-asset American in July. The price wasn’t disclosed. Veridian would enter Minnesota if it buys the bank. "We're excited to welcome the employees and clients of AIBM to Veridian and eager to

A pair of Illinois banks recently raised capital through private placements of common stock. The $385 million-asset Merchants and Manufacturers in Joliet brought in $3 million on Dec. 1, based on data compiled by Performance Trust Capital Partners. First Waterloo Bancshares, the parent of the $823 million-asset First National Bank of Waterloo, raised $6.2 million, based on the same data. The company recently acquired Village Bank.

Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union in Columbia, S.C., has hired a former bank executive as its next CEO. The$1.3 billion-asset credit union said that Robert Dozier will also become its president. He will succeed Nick Wodogaza, who is retiring on Jan. 31. Dozier recently stepped down as chief operating officer at First Reliance Bancshares in Florence, S.C. First Reliance did not disclose where he was going when it announced his

Silvergate Capital in La Jolla, Calif., said it "conducted extensive due diligence” before agreeing to work with FTX and Alameda Research. “We take risk management and compliance extremely seriously,” CEO Alan Lane wrote in a public letter defending how the $15.5 billion-asset company vets and banks digital asset firms. Silvergate is required by law to identify a potential client’s beneficial owner, funding sources and the purpose and expected use of