Jim Dobbs

The Pacific Northwest bank said Robert Butterfield would replace veteran finance chief Peter Conner, who plans to retire this year.

Questions about the durability of community banks' customer bases and funding costs could dominate first-quarter earnings calls following the downfalls of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

Lenders had started tightening as early as the fourth quarter in anticipation of a possible recession. Now, the banking crisis is driving community and regional banks in particular to hit the brakes harder, stoking renewed recessions fears.

With the acquisitions of CIT Group and a large portion of the failed Silicon Valley Bank, the North Carolina company has doubled in size for the second time in a little more than a year and joined the class of super regionals.

The combined bank would have more than $8 billion of assets. The acquisition counters a trend of slowed merger activity amid regulatory pressure and an ongoing banking industry crisis.

On top of recession fears and elevated regulatory scrutiny, worry about the banking industry's weakness could delay the approval of mergers such as Toronto-Dominion Bank's pending acquisition of First Horizon.

The company agreed to pay $27.2 million in restitution to shareholders and revised its 2022 earnings to show a steep loss. The plea agreement with the Department of Justice was tied to Sterling's now defunct low-documentation mortgage program.

1831 Bancorp and South Shore Bancorp plan to join forces to bolster their collective resources and competitive standing in New England's largest market.

Analysts are increasingly focused on rising office property vacancy rates, driven by remote-work trends and higher costs of living. They are worried that cash-strapped landlords could default on loans and cause losses in banks' CRE portfolios.

Community lenders do not share the problems that led to the downfall of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank — but their customers and members don't always know that.