John Reosti

After resolving a longstanding consent order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and a shareholder lawsuit, Sterling Bank's CEO — an experienced turnaround artist — says the bank is largely done fixing the fallout from its fraud-ridden Advantage Loan program.

The same day Provident Financial Services announced it had agreed to buy Lakeland for $1.3 billion, the seller disclosed an ongoing fair-lending investigation by the Justice Department. Provident said it has "not heard anything" that would give it pause.

Following an outcry, the Philadelphia company said its chairman and CEO, Harry Madonna — who would receive a $1 million windfall if the bank is sold — won't be part of the strategic review committee set up to evaluate any bids.

Vermont State Employees Credit Union is attracting new cannabis clients so rapidly that it had to press the pause button to add staff. Another New England lender, Needham Bank, is building its own pot banking business through acquisition.

After a bruising proxy fight that led to the ouster of the Philadelphia bank's former chairman and CEO Vernon Hill, remaining stakeholders find themselves in disagreement over a potential sale of the the company.

Already the nation's largest Small Business Administration lender by dollar volume, the Wilmington-based bank plans to add more than 200 employees and spend $25 million on a new building.

Richard Green is the third member of his family to run Firstrust Bank in Pennsylvania, but at 70, he is ready to step aside. His son Jeff is 27 and is — ironically — still too green for the role.

South End Capital, a division of Stearns Bank in Minnesota, is touting a nationwide Small Business Administration small-dollar loan product that can provide funding within days, perhaps hours. It's one of several recent small-dollar SBA lending initiatives now being offered by banks.

Bank of America says August was its best month ever for Small Business Administration lending and that it's optimistic a new program supporting women and minority commercial real estate borrowers could boost production even more.

Banks make up just 10% of the client base for Eltropy, which hopes to increase that number through two tech acquisitions that add video banking and artificial intelligence capabilities.