Fed bans Arkansas banker; Pennsylvania credit unions to join

June 13, 2025 2:59 PM

In this week's banking news roundup: The Federal Reserve Board banned a former relationship banker in Arkansas after he was caught stealing customer funds; Benchmark Federal Credit Union plans to merge with Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union to form a $2.1 billion-asset institution; Robin Vince, CEO of Bank of New York Mellon since 2022, has been elected chairman of the board; and more.

Bloomberg

Fed bans Arkansas banker for stealing customer funds

The Federal Reserve Board banned a former relationship banker in Arkansas from engaging in the banking industry after he was caught stealing customer funds.

In a Thursday enforcement action, the Fed issued the prohibition against Christopher Timos, a former employee of Fayetteville-based Arvest Bank's Springdale branch.

According to the action, Timos misappropriated $42,731.38 of customer funds for his own gain between Dec. 1, 2023, and March 20, 2025. The enforcement action does not specify where the funds came from or how Timos misappropriated them. It only states that his actions constituted "violations of law or regulation, unsafe or unsound banking practices, or breaches of fiduciary duty."

Timos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As a result of the enforcement action, Timos is prohibited from working for or in relation to a bank, bank holding company or other financial institution without prior written approval from the Fed.

A spokesperson for the $27 billion-asset Arvest Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. —John Heltman

Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union

Pennsylvania credit unions plan to merge

Benchmark Federal Credit Union plans to merge with Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union, potentially forming a $2.1 billion-asset institution in Pennsylvania.

The merger is subject to regulatory approval and a vote of Benchmark's membership and is expected to be completed in early 2026, the credit unions said in a press release Tuesday.

Credit unions have mainly been seeking banks as deal partners. Last year, credit unions bought a record-breaking 22 banks. The Benchmark-Franklin Mint deal is the latest merger of two credit unions, after two tech-focused institutions merged into a $29 billion company in September.

If completed, the new entity will have 20 branches serving 157,000 members in the Philadelphia region and Chester County, Pennsylvania. It will operate under the Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union name and leadership, with headquarters in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

The move is expected to provide Benchmark members with expanded access to banking solutions and branch locations. —Colin McNamara

Bank of New York Mellon CEO to become board chair

Robin Vince, CEO of Bank of New York Mellon since 2022, has been unanimously elected chairman of the company's board of directors, effective Sept. 1, BNY said in a press release. As chair, Vince will lead the setting of the 11-member board's agenda.

Vince, who joined BNY in 2020 after working for more than two decades at Goldman Sachs, will assume the chair title three years after he was appointed CEO. BNY's previous CEOs, excluding Todd Gibbons who was CEO for about three years before retiring in 2022, have also held the chair title. The list of former BNY chair-CEOs includes Charlie Scharf, who was plucked from the chief executive job at BNY in 2019 to become CEO of Wells Fargo.

Also on Sept. 1, Joe Echevarria, the board's current chairman, will return to his prior role as lead independent director. Echevarria, the retired CEO of Deloitte who joined BNY's board in 2015, previously held the lead independent director role at BNY from 2016 to 2019. —Allissa Kline

Synovus recruits lenders from big banks

Synovus Financial has hired about half of the 35 relationship managers it set out to recruit this year as part of a three-year effort to ramp up commercial and middle-market lending and private wealth in certain Southeast metropolitan areas, a spokesperson told American Banker on Friday in an email.

The Columbus, Georgia-based bank is "on target" with its hiring goals, the spokesperson said. In recent days, it has announced the hiring of 11 bankers who will focus on Atlanta, Miami, Orlando or certain markets in South Carolina, such as Charleston and Greenville.

The new hires are being recruited from big banks such as JPMorganChase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC Financial Services Group and Truist Financial.

Overall, the $60.3 billion-asset bank aims to add about 85 relationship managers by 2027. If successful, that would represent a 20% to 30% increase over the three-year period. —Allissa Kline

Indiana-based Lake City Bank focuses on Elkhart

Lake City Bank formed a new commercial region in Elkhart, Indiana, to better serve the city's growing business community.

Gregory Brown, a former commercial banking officer for Lake City from 2016 to 2021, will lead the new region, the bank said in a press release Tuesday. Brown, who has lived in Elkhart since 2003, spent four years leading a private manufacturing supply business but sought a return to banking, a Lake City spokesperson told American Banker.

Brown will lead a team of three commercial banking officers in Elkhart, while Senior Vice President Todd Bruce will continue to lead the Commercial North Region team, which will direct its focus to clients in St. Joseph County and the surrounding Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan communities.

Headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, Lake City controls $6.9 billion in assets and serves central and northern Indiana communities with 54 branches. —Colin McNamara

Atlanta-based CoastalSouth Bancshares seeks NYSE listing

CoastalSouth Bancshares, the holding company for Coastal States Bank, is seeking to list on the New York Exchange.

The Atlanta-based company aims to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol COSO. The shares currently trade on OTC Market Group's OTCQX Best Market, recently priced at $21.

The number of shares and the price range for the initial public offering have not yet been determined, the company said in a Securities and Exchange filing on June 6.

"We are conducting this offering at this time because we believe that it will allow us to better execute our growth strategy," CoastalSouth said in the filing.

Coastal States Bank's 11 branches operate around Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The company has $2.2 billion in assets and reported net income of $21.9 million in 2024.

In addition to its community banking operations, the company manages four specialty lines of business: senior housing lending, marine lending, mortgage banker finance and government guaranteed lending for small businesses. Coastal States Bank's specialty lines accounted for 56% of its gross loan growth since 2017.

Led by President and CEO Stephen Stone, the company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes. —Colin McNamara

Associated to expand its footprint in Minneapolis

Associated Banc-Corp is more than doubling its office space in downtown Minneapolis with a move to the IDS Center, where it will lease the 43rd floor.

The bank's plans call for construction to start in August, with about 100 employees across several business lines expected to move in the spring of 2026, the Green Bay, Wisconsin-based bank said in a press release Thursday. Associated's offices in Minneapolis are currently located in the PwC Tower.

"Minneapolis is a priority market for us, and we're excited to play a role in drawing people and energy back into the heart of Minneapolis," Phillip Trier, Associated's head of corporate and commercial banking, said in the release.

Associated Bank's $43 billion-asset parent company operates 15 of its nearly 200 branches in the Greater Twin Cities area. Its newest Minneapolis branch, currently under construction, is expected to open in the IDS Center Crystal Court by October. —Colin McNamara

Citi hires JPMorgan’s Sun to lead portfolio advisory

Citigroup added long-time JPMorganChase employee Jeanne Sun to its chief investment officer team as head of portfolio advisory.

At Citi, Sun is expected to help define the CIO team's investment views and portfolio strategy for advisors and clients. She will also create investment advice to target specific client segments, Chief Investment Officer of Citi Wealth Kate Moore said last month.

Sun spent 22 years with JPMorgan and served in multiple leadership roles, including head of investments and advice for digital wealth, general manager of inclusive investing and head of investment strategy for global investment opportunities. —Colin McNamara

Deutsche brings back former executive to lead UAE business

Deutsche Bank has rehired Majed Julfar to oversee its business in the United Arab Emirates, one of the German lender's international locations earmarked for expansion.

In addition to his role as Deutsche's chief country officer for the UAE, Julfar will also head the bank's corporate coverage in the Middle East and Africa, according to a press release.

Based in Dubai, Julfar will lead the bank's coverage strategy across the region and be responsible for its local franchise across all business divisions and entities, the bank said.

Julfar rejoins the bank from Etihad Credit Insurance where he worked since 2019. He previously spent almost 14 years at Deutsche in addition to stints at Emirates NBD and ABN Amro.

He succeeds Kees Hoving, who retired earlier this year.

Deutsche recently secured a new branch license in Abu Dhabi's financial center and in the past 18 months has made several senior hires in its wealth management and corporate banking franchise. —Nicolas Parasie, Bloomberg News

Veteran JPMorgan banker Baygual to depart bank after 26 years

Guillermo Baygual, global co-head of JPMorganChase's infrastructure and strategic investors group, is departing the bank after 26 years.

The London-based dealmaker has informed JPMorgan of his decision to leave, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. Baygual has held a number of senior positions at JPMorgan over the years, previously helping run its mergers and acquisitions franchise for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as industry coverage in the region.

He's also been head or co-head of global coverage for sectors including consumer, retail, real estate and diversified industries. Before joining JPMorgan, Baygual did stints at Accenture, Morgan Stanley and Kleinwort Benson, according to LinkedIn.

Avery Whidden will continue to run the infrastructure and strategic investors group on his own for now, and a replacement for Baygual will be announced later, the memo shows. A representative for JPMorgan confirmed the contents of the memo. —Swetha Gopinath and Dinesh Nair, Bloomberg News