Peoples in Ohio terminates pension plan
Peoples Bancorp in Marietta, Ohio, terminated its pension plan. The $8.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that it settled the remaining benefit obligation of $7.7 million during the third quarter. Peoples said it doesn’t expect any more expenses tied to ending the plan, which had been closed to new entrants since January 2010. […]
Security Bank to buy Cambridge State in Minnesota
Flagship Financial Group in Eden Prairie, Minn., and Security Bancshares in Glencoe, Minn., are planning to merge before buying another bank. The companies, which are under common control, plan to complete their merger by the end of this year, Andy Schornack, Flagship’s CEO, tweeted. Flagship is the parent of the $319 million-asset Flagship Bank, while […]
SmartFinancial in Tenn. restructures securities portfolio
SmartFinancial in Knoxville, Tenn., repositioned its securities portfolio during the third quarter. The $4.8 billion-asset company said in a press release that it sold $159.6 million of available-for-sale securities at a $6.8 million pretax loss. It reinvested the proceeds into higher-yielding assets. “We strategically took advantage of a balance sheet optimization opportunity,” Billy Carroll, SmartFinancial’s […]
Huntington Bancshares plans to close 34 branches
Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, plans to close 34 branches early next year. The $187 billion-asset company said that 11 of the branches are located inside Cub stores around Minneapolis, according to published reports. Another seven branches are in Ohio and nine are in Michigan. The closures represent about 3% of Huntington’s total branch network. […]
Hope in LA announces big chargeoff, cost-cutting plan
Hope Bancorp in Los Angeles announced a cost-cutting plan that includes an undisclosed number of layoffs. The $20.1 billion-asset company said in a press release that the goal is to reduce annual expenses by $40 million with about 85% coming from layoffs. The plan includes reduced staffing, branch closures, the wind-down of noncore businesses and […]
Regions discloses another large case of check fraud
Quarterly profit at Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., took a hit after another large instance of check fraud. The $153.6 billion-asset company disclosed in a press release that it incurred $53 million of losses in the third quarter tied to a check fraud scheme that occurred in the prior quarter. Regions didn’t discover the scheme […]
Macatawa in Mich. selects insider as next CEO
Macatawa Bank Corp. in Holland, Mich., will have a new CEO next month. The $2.6 billion-asset company said in a press release that Jon Swets will also become president on Nov. 1, succeeding the retiring Ronald Haan. Swets, who joined Macatawa in 2002, has been the company’s chief financial officer. The company said Bryan Barker, […]
Metropolitan in NY to pay $30M fine for prepaid card mistakes
Metropolitan Bank Holding in New York will pay $30 million in penalties to address claims it had deficient third-party risk management practices and violated customer identification rules of the Bank Secrecy Act. The Federal Reserve and New York Department of Financial Services each hit the $6.3 billion-asset bank with $15 million penalties. The regulators had […]
Ameris commits $9M to settle DoJ fair lending claims
Ameris Bancorp has settled Department of Justice claims that the Atlanta company violated fair lending laws in Jacksonville, Fla., from 2016 to 2021. The $25.8 billion-asset Ameris said in a press release that its bank agreed to a consent order and will provide $7.5 million of mortgage subsidies over the next five years in majority […]
F.N.B. reports higher profit despite large chargeoff
F.N.B. Corp. in Pittsburgh reported higher earnings despite fully charging off a large commercial loan. The $45 billion-asset company said in a press release that its earnings rose by 2% from the second quarter and by 5.8% from a year earlier, to $143.3 million. The third quarter loan-loss provision included $18.8 million tied to a […]
Guaranty Capital to buy Lafayette Bancorp in Mississippi
Guaranty Capital in Belzoni, Miss., has agreed to buy Lafayette Bancorp in Oxford, Miss. The $2.3 billion-asset Guaranty said in a press release that it expects to complete its purchase of the $245 million-asset parent of Oxford University Bank in the first quarter. The price wasn’t disclosed. “We are pleased to partner with Oxford University […]
Bank-backed fund invests in six fintechs
BankTech Ventures, an investment fund backed by several community banks, disclosed that it has invested $13.5 million in six fintechs over the second half of 2023. $5 million in BillGo, which enables real-time customer bill pay $2.5 million in Vero Technologies, which helps bank offer wholesale finance to inventory-based businesses $2 million in Finosec, which […]
MainStreet in Va. debuts Software-as-a-Service platform
MainStreet Bancshares in Fairfax, Va., has debuted its Software-as-a-Service platform after signing its first client. The $1.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that its Avenu division is working to assist SafariPay with a product that allows for money transfers to people in Africa, the UK, the European Union and the Middle East. SafariPay […]
Plumas in Nevada to end dealer lending program
Plumas Bancorp in Reno, Nev., will discontinue its dealer loan program. The $1.6 billion-asset company said in a press release that it decided to exit the business due to long-term challenges tied to high interest rates, increasing compliance requirements and the need to update technology. Plumas said that increasing expenses for the business outweighed the […]
Mercantile Bank in Mich. lines up next CEO
Mercantile Bank Corp. in Grand Rapids, Mich., is set to have a new CEO. The $5.2 billion-asset company said in a press release that Raymond Reitsma will also become its president on June 1. Reitsma, Mercantile’s, chief operating officer, will succeed Robert Kaminski, who is retiring. Kaminski will remain on the company’s board. “The management […]
Taiwanese bank ends plan to buy California bank
Taichung Commercial Bank in Taipei, Taiwan, and American Continental Bancorp in City of Industry, Calif., have terminated their planned merger. TCB agreed in September 2022 to buy the parent of the $357 million-asset American Continental Bank for $82 million. TCB will pay American Continental $500,000. American Continental “will continue to explore strategic alternatives that it […]
FB Financial in Tenn. restructures securities portfolio
FB Financial in Nashville, Tenn., reported lower quarterly earnings after it restructured its securities portfolio and conducted an early retirement program. The $12.5 billion-asset company said in a press release that third-quarter profit fell by 9.3% from a year earlier, to $102 million. Net income rose slightly from the second quarter. FB Financial said it […]
Generations Bancorp NY CEO Menzo Case dies
Menzo Case, president and CEO of Generations Bancorp NY in Seneca Falls, has died. The $395 million-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that Case died on Friday. No other details were shared. Case, who was 59 when the company filed its last proxy statement, had been president and CEO since 2008. Generations said that […]
LendingClub moves ahead with new round of job cuts
LendingClub in San Francisco has cut more jobs. The online lender said it will lay off 172 employees, or roughly 14% of its workforce. The cuts come months after the company eliminated 225 positions in January. The company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had eliminated the position of chief administrative officer currently held […]
Ethiopian-American bank organizers plan to raise $22M
A group of eight Ethiopian-Americans in Washington, D.C., plan to raise $22 million in initial capital for the planned Moodai International Bank. The organizers intend to operate the proposed de novo at a minority depository institution, according to their application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The organizers are Admassu Abebe, Takele Argaw, Moges Gebremariam, […]
Banks in Minn., Texas complete private placements
Banks in Minnesota and Texas have raised capital through private placements of common stock. Plato Holdings in in St. Paul, Minn., brought in $3.1 million on Oct. 10, according to data collected by Performance Trust Capital Partners. Plato is the parent company of the $215 million-asset Drake Bank. Texas State Bankshares in Harlingen raised $1.2 […]
PNC planning to cut 4% of its workforce
PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh plans to cut about 4% of its workforce as part of a broader cost-cutting plan. The $557 billion-asset company said the layoffs should lower annual expenses by $325 million in 2024. PNC plans to incur a one-time charge of $150 million in the fourth quarter tied to the cuts. […]
SECU members replace three incumbents with new directors
State Employees’ Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C., has three new directors. The $50 billion-asset credit union said in a press release that its members voted for self-nominated directors instead of three incumbents at its annual membership meeting. The board has 11 members who serve three-year terms. One the incumbents was the board’s vice chairman. The […]
ORNL Federal Credit Union in Tennessee has new CEO
ORNL Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge, Tenn., has a new CEO. The $3.4 billion-asset credit union said in a press release that Jenny Vipperman also became its president on Oct. 1. She succeeded Colin Anderson, who retired. Vipperman joined ORNL from VyStar Credit Union in Jacksonville, Fla., where she was chief lending officer. Prior […]
Goldman to sell GreenSky unit to investor group
Goldman Sachs in New York has agreed to sell its GreenSky platform to a group of institutional investors led by Sixth Street. The deal, which also includes KKR, Bayview Asset Management and CardWorks, is expected to close in the first quarter. The transaction includes support from PIMCO via an asset acquisition and strategic financing from […]