John Reosti

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.

Activist investor Abbott Cooper, who has been locked in a battle with management at AmeriServ Financial for more than a year, plans to nominate former Amalgamated Financial head Keith Mestrich in a bid to end the impasse.

A proposed settlement between the Philadelphia-based community bank and an activist investor group that has waged a nearly two-year battle for control also calls for overhauling the board of directors.

The two branches Julie Celozzi oversees for the Orlando, Florida, bank amassed $400 million of deposits in three years. Such production is often a steppingstone to bigger things, but Celozzi — who began as a part-time teller in high school — says she is "hooked" on branch banking.

With a week left in its 2023 fiscal year, the Small Business Administration has already approved 12% more 7(a) loans than last year. Larger banks were among the biggest gainers as a result, according to the agency's latest data.

Boston-based Eastern Bankshares says its premium on the sale of Eastern Insurance Group will help fund the acquisition of Cambridge Trust and build a wealth management powerhouse. But some analysts point out more revenue is being sacrificed than gained.

Denver-based InBank will expand into Georgia and Arizona, part of a wider plan to seize market share and build what one executive called a top-tier SBA lender.

Commercial real estate loans are a growing area of concern for banks. But OceanFirst says its exposure to a troubled shared credit tied to a Manhattan office building isn't a sign of broader problems in its portfolio.

Despite an industrywide rough patch, EverBank still sees promise in the niche business line. The Jacksonville, Florida, company has hired a pair of prominent industry experts to lead a new division tasked with serving investment funds.

Executives at the Columbus, Ohio-based regional bank were convinced by a presentation Veuu, the solution's developer, made earlier this year.