VersaBank in Canada to sell Minnesota branch back to Stearns Bank
VersaBank in Canada has agreed to sell its branch in Holdingford, Minn., to Stearns Bank. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has already approved the sale. VersaBank obtained the bank when it bought Stearns Bank Holdingford in 2024. The sale is expected to close in the second quarter. The price wasn’t disclosed. The […]
Eagle Bancorp in Maryland to face proxy fight
Eagle Bancorp in Bethesda, Md., is facing a board challenge from an activist investor. Diligence Capital Management said it plans to nominate three directors to run for seats at Eagle’s upcoming annual meeting. Diligence was founded by James Abbott, who recently oversaw investor relations at Zions Bancorp. Diligence also wants the board to make swift […]
Heritage Financial in Wash. discloses cybersecurity incident
Heritage Financial in Olympia, Wash., disclosed that it detected a cybersecurity incident in early March involving an internal file share server used by employees. The company said in a regulatory filing that it detected “the exfiltration of files” from the share server that may contain personal data. The bank’s customer accounts, customer systems and operations […]
Oregon Coast Bank to buy Connect Community in Washington
Oregon Coast Bank in Newport has agreed to buy Connect Community Bank in Raymond, Wash. The $449.6 million-asset Oregon Coast said in a press release that it plans to buy the $76.7 million-asset Connect in the second quarter. The price wasn’t disclosed. “Our mission has always been to provide common sense, relationship-driven banking focused on […]
UBS received OCC approval for national bank charter
UBS has received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national bank charter. “This milestone really positions us well for the next phase of growth as we work to strengthen our U.S. banking platform and enhance how we will be able to serve our clients and advisers,” Rob Karofsky, […]
Citizens Bank of Las Cruces in New Mexico hires outsider as new CEO
Citizens Bank of Las Cruces in New Mexico has a new leader. The $1.1 billion-asset bank said in a LinkedIn post that Travis Hillman had become its president and CEO. Hillman’s profile also listed him as president of Amador Banc Shares. Hillman, who was a market president at Community National Bank in Midland, Texas, succeeded […]
First State Bancorp in Missouri to buy Senath State Bank
First State Bancorp in Caruthersville, Mo., has agreed to buy Senath Bancshares in Senath, Mo. The holding company for the $642 million-asset First State Bank and Trust did not disclose how much it will pay for the parent of the $105.6 million-asset Senath State Bank. Performance Trust Capital Partners and Polsinelli advised First State. Friday Eldredge […]
Midwest Heritage to buy Iowa Savings Bank
Midwest Heritage in West Des Moines, Iowa, has agreed to buy Iowa Savings Bank in Carroll. Jeremy Gosch, chairman and CEO of Hy-Vee Company, disclosed the acquisition of the $290.4 million-asset Iowa Savings in a LinkedIn post. The acquisition would be the first for the $491.6 million-asset Midwest, which is a part of Hy-Vee. The […]
Landmark Credit Union to buy Illinois branch from North Shore Bank
Landmark Credit Union in Milwaukee has agreed to buy a branch in McHenry, Ill., from North Shore Bank. The $7 billion-asset credit union said in a press release that it will also buy the deposits. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. The price wasn’t disclosed. The branch had $28.5 million in […]
Carver in N.Y. swapping common stock for trust preferred securities
Carver Bancorp in New York has agreed to exchange common stock so it can cancel trust preferred securities. The company said in a press release that it will issue 524,826 shares of common stock to institutional holders in exchange for trust preferred securities with more than $1 million in interest obligations. The move is designed […]
Lake Shore in N.Y. strikes truce with activist investor Stilwell Group
Stilwell Group will appoint a director to join the board of Lake Shore Bancorp after the activist investor and Dunkirk, N.Y., company reached a truce. Lake Shore disclosed in a regulatory filing that Dennis Pollack will become a director as part of a standstill agreement between the parties. The agreement will remain in effect until […]
Independent Bank to buy HCB in Michigan bank merger
Independent Bank in Grand Rapids, Mich., has agreed to buy HCB Financial in Hastings, Mich. The $5.5 billion-asset Independent said in a press release that it will pay $70.2 million in cash and stock for the $590 million-asset HCB. The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, priced HCB at 148% of […]
Community Bankers Association of Kansas looking for next CEO
The Community Bankers Association of Kansas is looking for its next leader. The association said in a press release that Shawn Mitchell will retire as its president and CEO at the end of this year. The association said that it is searching for his replacement with the Independent Community Bankers of America. Mitchell joined the […]
B2 Bank in Minn. hires three Climate First execs in C-Suite overhaul
B2 Bank in Mountain Iron, Minn., has overhauled its management team after hiring three executives from Climate First Bank. The bank, which is owned by M1 Finance founder Brian Barnes, said in a press release that Ryan Jaskiewicz had become its CEO. Jaskiewicz was president of structured finance at Climate First Bank. Chris Cucci was […]
Proposed N.H. bank to operate ‘digital-first’ engagement model
A proposed bank in New Hampshire will have a digital-first engagement model. Organizers of the planned Strategist Bank in Bedford said in their application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that the model is designed “to enhance convenience and operational efficiency.” They noted in the application that there are only three New Hampshire-chartered community banks […]
Proposed Atlanta-area de novo gets conditional FDIC approval
Organizers of the proposed First City Bank in Georgia have received conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. David Shafer, the proposed bank’s chairman, also said in a LinkedIn post that his group has received approval from the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. The post did not disclose how much capital must be […]
Peoples Bank in Kansas sells farm management business
Farmers National in Omaha, Neb., bought the farm management business of Peoples Bank and Trust in McPherson, Kan. The acquisition includes more than 20,000 acres and brings Farmers National’s total in Kansas to over 400,000 managed acres. The price wasn’t disclosed “This acquisition aligns with our mission to provide solutions that improve profitability and long‑term […]
Itaú Bank seeks national bank charter
Itaú Bank has applied for a national bank charter. The application, filed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on March 16, said the bank would be based in Miami. It would be regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The application, which wasn’t immediately available, comes on the heels of Brazil’s Nu […]
Group planning Strategist Bank in New Hampshire
A group is planning a bank in Bedford, N.H. Organizers submitted an application to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on March 13 to form Strategist Bank. The application wasn’t immediately available. A public notice tied to the application lists four organizers: Michael Simchik, Robert Pace, Dylan Cruess and James Pietro.
CSB Financial in Ohio to raise capital from mutual-to-stock conversion
CSB Financial in Bethel, Ohio, plans to raise up to $14.6 million as part of a plan to convert from a mutual to a stock-owned company. CSB, which would become the holding company for the $110.2 million-asset Community Savings Bank, plans to sell 935,000 to 1.3 million shares of common stock at $10 each. If […]
ABNB Federal Credit Union to buy two N.C. branches for Virginia bank
ABNB Federal Credit Union in Chesapeake, Va., has agreed to buy two North Carolina branches from First Bank of Virginia in Strasburg. The branches, located in Roanoke Rapids and Louisburg, had $52.9 million in deposits in mid-2025, according to data from the Federal Insurance Deposit Corp. The price wasn’t disclosed. The deal is expected to […]
Billy Beale retires after leading turnaround at Blue Ridge Bank in Va.
Billy Beale, who helped Blue Ridge Bancshares in Richmond, Va., get out from under an enforcement action and return to profitability, has retired. The company said in a press release that Beale retired on March 6 and stepped down from its board. Harry Golliday, the company’s chief credit officer, will serve as interim CEO. Beale, […]
Proposed United Development Bank in Washington gets FDIC approval
A proposed bank in Bellevue, Wash., has received conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Organizers of the proposed United Development Bank must raise $15 million before opening. The group, which aims to operate as a minority depository institution (MDI), applied to regulators in August. Charlie Guildner, a former president and CEO of North Cascades […]
Esquire Financial in N.Y. to buy Signature Bancorp. in Illinois
Esquire Financial Holdings in Jericho, N.Y., has agreed to buy Signature Bancorp. in Rosemont, Ill. The $2.8 billion-asset Esquire said in a press release that it will pay $348.4 million in stock for the $2 billion-asset Signature. The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, priced Signature at 153% of its tangible […]
First Guaranty in La. to exit Texas with branch sale to Armstrong Bank
Armstrong Bank in Muskogee, Okla., has agreed to buy five branches from First Guaranty Bancshares in Hammond, La. The $4.1 billion-asset First Guaranty will exit Texas after selling the locations, along with $270 million in deposits and $110 million in loans, to the $2.7 million-asset Armstrong. The deal, which includes a 7.65% deposit premium, is […]