Georgia banks set December acquisition date

November 14, 2025 4:07 PM

In this week's banking news roundup: MetroCity Bankshares in Doraville, Georgia, plans to finalize its acquisition of First IC Corp; Rockefeller Capital Management's Brian D. Riley is set to join BNY Wealth as global head; Blackstone appoints former Morgan Stanley rainmaker Franck Petitgas to a top role in Europe; and more.

Georgia banks set acquisition date

MetroCity Bankshares in Doraville, Georgia, plans to finalize the acquisition of its cross-town rival, First IC Corp., on Dec. 1, the two banks said in a press release.

The $206 million cash-and-stock deal, which was announced in March, received all of the required regulatory approvals in mid-July. MetroCity Bankshares is the parent company of Metro City Bank, while First IC is the parent company of First IC Bank.

Both specialize in lending to Korean-American businesses. Metro City Bank has 20 branches across Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Virginia, New York and New Jersey. First IC has 10 branches and two loan production offices in Georgia, Texas, California, Washington, New York and New Jersey.

The combined entity will have about $4.8 billion of assets, $3.7 billion in deposits and $4.1 billion in loans, the banks said when they announced the deal. —Allissa Kline

BNY taps new global head of wealth

Brian D. Riley was named global head of BNY Wealth this week. Currently the head of Rockefeller Capital Management's San Francisco office, Riley is set to join BNY, which oversees more than $50 trillion in assets, in January.

"Brian's proven track record in enacting change will be instrumental in driving our next phase of growth for our wealth business," Jose Minaya, global head of BNY Investments and Wealth, said in a LinkedIn post.

The wealth management market, projected to reach $3.5 trillion in market value by 2033, is one of the industry's most attractive opportunities, Minaya said. "Building on our 240-year-plus legacy of wealth management, trust, and innovation, we are excited to continue to invest in that opportunity." —Editorial Staff

Blackstone hires ex-Morgan Stanley rainmaker Franck Petitgas

Blackstone has appointed former Morgan Stanley rainmaker Franck Petitgas to a top role in Europe as it prepares to invest $500 billion there over the next 10 years.

Petitgas, who used to run Morgan Stanley's investment bank and was once considered a candidate to lead the Wall Street firm, will join Blackstone as a senior managing director in January, according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News.

Taking up a newly created role of vice chairman, Europe, Petitgas will work with the private equity firm's leadership on strategy, as well as top-level clients and business leaders in the region.

The appointment of one of London's best-known dealmakers is another coup for Blackstone as it prepares to embark on a big spending spree in Europe, where it already manages more than $350 billion across private equity, real estate, credit and infrastructure. —Swetha Gopinath, Bloomberg News

BofA, BNY seek to dismiss suit over Jeffrey Epstein ties

Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon asked a federal judge to throw out a proposed class action lawsuit accusing the companies of aiding in Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking scheme.

Lawyers for an unnamed Epstein victim filed lawsuits against the two banks in federal court in Manhattan earlier this month, alleging the companies processed payments from accounts they knew were being used to further Epstein's criminal scheme.

In a filing Thursday, BofA called the suit against it "threadbare and meritless," saying it seeks to hold the bank liable for Epstein's crimes "based on nothing more than allegations that it provided routine services to customers who at the time had no known connection to Epstein's sex trafficking."

In a separate filing, Bank of New York Mellon said the lawsuit against it doesn't include "a single plausible allegation" that the bank "had anything to do with those crimes."

Neither of the lawsuits against the banks allege Epstein was a client but instead focus on accounts at the bank allegedly used by "his co-conspirators, associates and victims," including Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021. —Chris Dolmetsch, Bloomberg News

Fed to meet bank CFOs on Basel next month, JPMorgan’s Pinto says

The Federal Reserve will meet the chief financial officers of big U.S. banks next month to detail its updated plans for implementing international capital standards, said JPMorganChase Vice Chairman Daniel Pinto.

JPMorgan and other banks were "taken aback" by a previous edition of the plan, known as Basel endgame, given how much it would drive up capital requirements, Pinto said at a conference in Frankfurt on Friday. The upcoming meeting with Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman may change that.

"We will get more clarity," Pinto said. His bank is now "hearing" that the fresh plan will be "something that is quite aligned" with how European authorities are implementing the Basel standards.

Bloomberg reported last month that the Fed has shown other U.S. regulators the outlines of a revised plan that would dramatically relax a Biden-era bank capital proposal for Wall Street's largest lenders. —Nicholas Comfort, Bloomberg News