Robert Barba is the technology editor of American Banker. Robert previously served as deputy editor of American Banker's dealmaking and strategy section. He joined American Banker in late 2007 as a community banking reporter, just in time for the financial crisis. Robert played a lead role in covering community banks' struggle for survival in the years following the downturn. Robert has appeared on Fox Business to discuss bank failures and the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program. Prior to joining American Banker, Robert was a general business reporter at Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers in Stuart, Fla. He began his career as a business desk intern at The Denver Post and Boulder Daily Camera. Robert is based in New York.
-
Buyers used to win banks in pricey, unpredictable auctions. Now they have to be friendly masters of the negotiating table.
February 14 -
Patriot Financial is among a handful of investors to team up and bid on 1st Mariner Bank in a bankruptcy auction. Kirk Wycoff, Patriot's managing director, says his firm likes the structure and thinks it provides a market-based solution to community banks' debt hangover.
February 12 -
Bankruptcy used to be uncharted water in banking, but the drastic measure is starting to look like the only way for some institutions to reach dry land.
February 10 -
The company wants to supplement the loss of revenue from mortgage banking with a potentially large acquisition. CEO Gary Douglass says he is interested in banks with $400 million to $1 billion in assets.
February 7 -
The Ohio company expects to receive an additional $46 million from loans it had marked impaired when it bought Citizens Republic. Management also expects more cost cutting than it originally projected.
February 6 -
PrivateBancorp (PVTB) in Chicago has continued its trend of hiring former employees of LaSalle Bank, this time hiring a group who will lead the company in advising other banks.
February 5 -
Add PrivateBancorp to the list of financial institutions that have managed to grow commercial loans organically and are eyeing acquisitions that would improve liquidity in a rising-rate environment.
February 4 -
The Idaho Department of Finance closed the $153.4 million-asset Syringa Bank in Boise on Friday. It was the first bank closed in the state in nearly five years.
January 31 -
There are too many things in M&A that buyers cannot control, including the willingness of the right targets to sell, economic conditions and the likelihood that desire will interfere with good due diligence, two Midwest bankers warn.
January 31 -
The CenterState/First Southern in Florida deal shows how banks have to cut expenses, make acquisitions and then make more cuts to move ahead in the long run.
January 30 -
Bankers feel more optimistic about their business as crisis memories fade, and more open-minded about M&A as deal prices rise, but concerns about compliance challenges and regulators' tough reviews of merger applications are keeping their enthusiasm in check.
January 28 -
The Oklahoma State Banking Department has closed Bank of Union in El Reno.
January 24 -
The Mississippi bank's latest acquisition would take it into the Austin, Texas, market, but CEO Dan Rollins refuses to answer questions from investors and analysts about how quickly it would earn back its dilution of tangible book value.
January 24 -
Richard Davis, the head of U.S. Bancorp, criticized other banks that, he says, are overly dependent on releases of loan-loss reserves to boost earnings.
January 24 -
Leading indicators are still so-so, but normally bearish U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis predicts more loan demand in the second half based on his conversations with customers, who he says want to "get things moving."
January 22 -
ConnectOne is a busy lender but light on deposits, while Center Bancorp has a low loan-to-deposit ratio. The combined company will stand a better chance at organic loan growth in the future. More deals like it are coming as banks look to a more robust lending environment in the next few years.
January 21 -
On Friday the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed the $61.7 million-asset DuPage National Bank in West Chicago, Ill. Its failure is expected to cost the Deposit Insurance Fund $1.6 million.
January 17 -
The Buffalo, N.Y., company still has some goodwill from analysts based on its reputation as a skilled bank buyer, but it has become the poster child for the risks associated with M&A in a tough regulatory environment.
January 17 -
Customers Bancorp and CMS called off their merger and are fighting over whether Customers owes a $1 million breakup fee. Emotions run high in these cases, but bank execs need to learn to avoid such distractions to protect long-term growth strategies, experts warn.
January 15 - PH
Banks Get Break on Trups; Wells Seizes 'Symbolic' Throne
January 15
