CrossFirst Bankshares in Leawood, Kan., will enter Phoenix after hiring a former CIT Group banker.The $6 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that it Kevin Halloran will become its Phoenix market president.“We believe Phoenix is a great opportunity given the region’s favorable demographics, strong population, and business growth,” Mike Maddox, CrossFirst’s president and CEO, said in the release.“As an entrepreneurial bank, we are excited about the opportunity to

Organizers in western North Carolina have received conditional approval to open a bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on June 1 approved an application for deposit insurance submitted by Highlands Banking Co. The proposed bank would be based in Highlands, a town near North Carolina’s borders with Georgia and South Carolina.The group must raise roughly $13.8 million before opening, according to the FDIC’s order. The proposed bank’s organizers said in an

Square has made a multimillion investment in Southern Bancorp in Arkadelphia, Ark.Square said in a press release Thursday that it had invested the final $25 million of a $100 million commitment to minority and underserved communities. The $1.9 billion-asset Southern said in a separate release that it had received funds from that investment. “We are appreciative to Square, Inc. for both their commitment and their vision for reaching minority and underserved

CB Financial Services in Washington, Pa., has agreed to sell two branches to Citizens Financial in Elkins, W.Va. The $1.5 billion-asset CB Financial said in a press release Thursday that it will sell the West Virginia locations, in Buckhannon and New Martinsville, along with $101.9 million of deposits and $6.3 million of loans. The $340 million-asset Citizens will pay a 5% deposit premium for the deposits transferred. The deal is

A group is looking to form a bank in Ft. Myers, Fla.Organizers of Gulf Coast Business Bank filed an application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Wednesday for deposit insurance.The group plans to raise $20 million in initial capital, according to the application.William Blevins is listed as the proposed bank's president, CEO and chief lending officer. Blevins was a commercial loan officer at Wachovia Bank and Wells Fargo from 1993

Community Savings Bancorp in Caldwell, Ohio, has agreed to be sold to an entity owned by former Pacific Union Financial CEO Evan Stone. Double Bottomline, which is owned by Stone, will pay $9.5 million for the $60 million-asset parent of Community Savings. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.Community Savings has applied to the Treasury Department to become a community development financial institution. The transaction is expected to

PDL Community Bancorp in New York expects to record a pretax gain of $4.2 million after completing a sale-leaseback transaction.The $1.4 billion-asset parent of Ponce Bank said in a press release Tuesday that it sold a property in Bronx, N.Y., for $5.7 million on June 4. The property had a net book value of $1.1 million on April 30. The bank entered into a 15- year lease agreement with an initial base

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., has agreed to buy EnerBank USA, a home improvement lender based in Salt Lake City. The $153 billion-asset Regions said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $960 million for the $3.1 billion-asset industrial loan company. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. EnerBank has served more than a million homeowners and 10,000 contractors through mobile, online and phone-based point-of-sale