Central Bank of St. Louis will have a new president. The $2.3 billion-asset unit of Central Bancompany announced that Dan Kleffner will take on the role on Jan. 1, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. Kleffner, the bank’s executive vice president of commercial lending, will succeed Dan Stephen. Stephen became the bank’s president in 2021. The bank also said that Jim Lewis will be promoted to oversee its four

Totem, a challenger bank in Tulsa, Okla., that plans to offer banking services to Native Americans, has raised $2.2 million of preseed funding. Totem said in a press release that it will use the funds to hire personnel and develop an app. Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, a Canadian firm that invests in indigenous social enterprises, led the funding round. Other investors included the Alloy Alchemist Fund, Candide Group, Debut Capital

First Reliance Bancshares in Florence, S.C., said that its chief operating officer is leaving to become CEO of a nonbank financial services company. The $946 million-asset company said in a press release that Robert Dozier is, effective Dec. 31. First Reliance did not name the nonbank that hired Dozier. First Reliance said there are no plans to hire a replacement, adding that its existing management team will perform the duties

Integro Bank in Phoenix is now an approved lender for the Small Business Administration’s 7(a) program. The $26.6 million-asset de novo said in a press release that it already has a six-person SBA team in place. The group, which can also make 504 loans, has the ability to lend up to $300 million. "We are excited to provide small businesses with loans to fund growth, business expansion and real estate

Silvergate Capital in La Jolla, Calif., said its exposure to BlockFi, the latest crypto-focused company to seek bankruptcy protection, is limited to a deposit relationship. The $15.5 billion-asset company said in a press release that it holds less than $20 million of deposits for BlockFi, as of Nov. 28. Silvergate said that BlockFi is not a custodian for its bitcoin-collateralized SEN leverage loans, which continue to “perform as expected with

National Capital Bancorp in Washington, D.C., will soon have a new bank CEO. National Capital said in a press release that Jimmy Olevson will succeed Randy Anderson at the $676 million-asset National Capital Bank of Washington on Jan. 1. Olevson will remain the bank’s president. Anderson will remain president and CEO of the company and will still serve on the bank’s board. Olevson became the bank’s president in April. He

BMO Financial Group has reached a five-year, $40 billion agreement with community groups to facilitate its pending purchase of Bank of the West in San Francisco. BMO Financial agreed to increase lending to lower-income and minority homeowners and increase small-business lending in underserved communities. The company also set aside $325 million for special-purpose credit programs. BMO Harris Bank in Chicago agreed to keep open all Bank of the West's branches

Safra New York Corp. has agreed to buy Delta North Bankcorp in New York. Safra, the parent of the $9.5 billion-asset Safra National Bank of New York, did not disclose the price it will pay for the holding company of the $493 million-asset Delta National Bank and Trust. Delta, which has offices in New York and Miami, provides private banking and wealth management services to high-net-worth clients.  "This transaction highlights the importance of