John Reosti

The Pennsylvania bank has agreed to sell its Exchange Underwriters subsidiary to World Insurance Associates for $30.5 million, saying that the deal will help pad its capital and liquidity.

Banking advocates claim FDIC's proposed corporate governance guidelines could undermine their legal duty to shareholders, despite the agency's claim that the proposal wouldn't break new ground.

The seller, Merchants and Manufacturers Bank in Illinois, has experienced rapid growth and zero lifetime losses in its niche portfolio. First Busey says that business line was a key reason it decided to buy its in-state peer.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has been a prolific acquirer, purchasing the insurance brokerages from multiple banks over the last year. Its management has indicated it has another $3.5 billion that it can use for more deals.

Dream Chasers upped its bid for Carver, one of the nation's largest and highest-profile Black banks, by a quarter, to $3.25 per share, dismissing the growth strategy interim CEO Craig MacKay outlined in a recent shareholder letter.

The financial institutions in American Banker's Best Banks to Work For ranking are skilled in hiring new talent and ensuring those employees want to stay.

Gov. Jim Justice alleges that Carter Bancorp engineered a technical default on a multi-million lending relationship and has blocked his company's efforts to refinance with other lenders. The lawsuit extends a dispute that started after the death of the bank's founder in 2017.

A key gauge of activity that tracks startups most likely to create jobs declined in October, potentially signaling the start of a slowdown after the rapid increase in interest rates. It presents a red flag for community banks and credit unions that are major lenders to small businesses.

Since the end of the Small Business Administration's 2022 fiscal year, the average loan size in its flagship program has dropped more than six figures. The addition of three new nondepository lenders could further drive down this figure.

Small business clients are important to financial institutions and expected to drive growth. But to achieve that, banks must teach them to be stronger consumers.

Los Angeles-based Lendistry — in less than two years — became the largest Black-run 7(a) lender. Its CEO credits a concerted effort by the Small Business Administration to reach out to minority lenders and businesses, whose participation in the lending program is growing.

Months prior to its failure, Citizens Bank in Sac City had entered into a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Iowa Division of Banking due to problems in its portfolio of commercial trucking loans.

This week the Small Business Administration followed through with a controversial policy change by granting access to its flagship 7(a) program to three additional nonbank lenders. These new participants vowed to ramp up their small-business lending efforts.

Citing the need to conserve capital, Blue Ridge Bankshares indefinitely extended a dividend suspension that it announced in July. The bank remains well-capitalized, but it saw its ratios shrink in the third quarter.

A $35 million capital bump from a once-hostile investor group may have helped the Philadelphia bank avoid collapse. Still, it reported $30 million of quarterly operating losses and heavy securities risk in a recently filed call report.

Washington Trust shares plunged after the Westerly, Rhode Island, company disclosed it booked an office deal in the third quarter, boosting the size of its portfolio while other lenders are pulling back.

Other regional banks are vowing to cut costs, but Huntington Bancshares CEO Steve Steinour says the Columbus, Ohio-based lender is well positioned to "play offense" in 2024.

Worried about the economy and new Fed rules on capital, the bank wants to hang onto its money just in case, CFO Daryl Bible told investors as he outlined second-quarter earnings.

American Bank of Oklahoma agreed to a consent order in August to settle allegations from the Department of Justice over redlining. However, the institution strenuously objected to references to the Tulsa Race Massacre in the agreement and asked that the language be stricken.

Other banks likely will follow the lead of the Richmond, Virginia, company and tap the equity in their branch networks as alternative sources of capital grow more costly, experts say.