Northmark Bank in North Andover, Mass., had in-depth discussions to sell to another bank months before agreeing to be sold to Cambridge Bancorp in Massachusetts. The $5 billion-asset Cambridge agreed in May to buy the $442 million-asset Northmark for $63 million in stock. Northmark, however, had exclusive negotiations with another bank between December 2021 and late January, according to a regulatory filing tied to its pending sale to Cambridge. Though the unnamed bank

Jim Cooper was named president and CEO of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Cooper has been serving as acting president and CEO since the unexpected death of John Ryan on May 16. Cooper has been the director of policy and supervision at the CSBS for nine years. Before that, he was deputy director at the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions from 1994 to 2013.  “Jim is singularly qualified to serve

UMB Financial in Kansas City, Mo., has agreed to buy the health savings account business of Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind. The $40.6 billion-asset UMB said in a press release Monday that it will obtain about $500 million of client assets. About $400 million of those assets are held in deposit accounts. The assets are comprised of roughly 157,000 accounts across more than 3,000 employer groups. UMB did not disclose the

Avidia Bank in Hudson, Mass., is on the lookout for a new CEO. The $2.4 billion-asset bank said in a press release Monday that Mark O’Connell, who is also its president, will retire in May 2023. O’Connell, who joined a predecessor bank in 1988, has been president and CEO since 2004. “I’m really proud of what we’ve all been able to accomplish at Avidia over the years,” O’Connell said in the release. “It’s

Greg Gonzales, the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions, has appealed a judge's decision that would allow Orion Credit Union to buy Financial Federal Bank. Gonzales argued in his appeal, filed on June 14, that depositors of the bank would be “irreparably harmed and disrupted” if the acquisition closes. He also argued that it would create confusion if the deal closes and is subsequently nullified by an appeals court. The

A group with ties to a wealth management firm in Scottsdale, Ariz., has applied to form a bank in the city.   Organizers of Zenith Bank & Trust applied with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on June 23 for deposit insurance. The group plans to register with the Federal Reserve to make Zenith Financial Holding the proposed bank’s holding company.    Zenith Financial Holding already owns Zenith Wealth Advisors, a

The leaders of United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., and Progress Financial in Huntsville, Ala., quickly bonded as they discussed what would become United’s agreement to buy Progress. The $24 billion-asset United agreed in May to buy the $1.9 billion-asset Progress for $271.5 million in stock. Progress, however, has United on a list of potential “upstream partners” well before David Nast, it’s president and CEO, first met with Lynn Harton, United’s chairman

Cornerstone League in Plano, Texas, and Heartland Credit Union Association in Overland Park, Kan., are exploring a merger of their organizations.The associations said in a press release that they have signed a letter of intent to create a group that would represent 718 credit unions in five states. “We believe that the infrastructure supporting our credit unions must evolve to keep pace with the way credit unions and consumers have changed,”