Jim Dobbs

Investors worry the intersection of rising interest rates and festering inflation could conjure a recession and drive loan losses. This would keep stock prices suppressed, but share buybacks and merger activity could counter that.

Eric Bergevin, president and CEO of Integrated Financial Holdings, was killed in the Jan. 7 accident, the company said.

Christopher Oddleifson plans to step down from the Massachusetts bank in February. The company named Jeffrey Tengel, most recently an executive at M&T Bank, as successor.

A new Risk Management Association survey found that 84% of small lenders cite credit quality as a leading worry for 2023 because of the likelihood of a recession.

Rising interest rates and the potential for weakening economic activity could result in moderating loan demand in the new year. Some bankers are already being more selective in their lending.

Lenders are bracing for possible setbacks in small business, office and hospitality lending. Consumer credit challenges may follow.

The New Canaan Bank would have been the state's first de novo in more than a decade.

Despite a slow year overall, banks announced several substantial merger and acquisitions in 2022.

The $23 million deal, announced more than a year ago, was terminated following regulatory delays.

The bank hired Thomas Geisel to take over as president and chief executive, effective immediately. He succeeds Harry Madonna, who had been interim leader after the ouster of Vernon Hill.