Riverview Bancorp announces next CEO, Dime expands deposits strategy

June 21, 2024 3:00 PM

In this week's banking news roundup: Vancouver, Washington's Riverview Bancorp announces Nicole Sherman as its next president and CEO; Happauge, New York-based Dime Community Bancshares is expanding its deposits strategy to Manhattan; UBS hires Guggenheim banker Ananya Das; and more.

Riverview Bancorp names next CEO

Riverview Bancorp in Vancouver, Washington, said Friday it hired industry veteran Nicole Sherman to become the next president and CEO of the company and its bank unit, effective July 1. She also will join the boards of both the $1.5 billion-asset company and Riverview Bank. "With over 25 years of proven experience growing community banking organizations, including the past 20 years in the Pacific Northwest, Nicole Sherman is the right person to lead Riverview into the future," Riverview Chairman Gerald Nies said in a press release.

Sherman has held leadership positions at several community and regional banks in the West, including Zions Bank and the former Columbia Bank, which last year merged with Umpqua Bank and took the moniker of the latter. Over the past nine months, Dan Cox has served as Riverview's acting chief executive. He will now focus full time on his chief operating officer role. He served in the interim top job after former CEO Kevin Lycklama was fired.

The company said last year that its board on Aug. 4 "voted to terminate, without cause," Lycklama's employment, effective Sept. 6. The company did not cite a reason. Riverview previously disclosed in a regulatory filing that it placed Lycklama on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. — Jim Dobbs

Dime expands deposits strategy to Manhattan

Dime Community Bancshares has expanded its recently established deposit-focused group to Manhattan. The Happauge, New York-based bank has hired Avi Azuolay, previously of the failed Signature Bank and its beleaguered successor Flagstar Bank, to lead the team.

The hire marks the latest in a series of moves the $13.6 billion-asset company has taken to bulk up its deposit business. Since last year, the bank has hired more than a dozen deposit groups, marking billions of dollars in deposits. The teams joined Dime from Signature, the failed First Republic Bank and Valley National Bancorp, Chief Financial Officer Avinash Reddy told American Banker in April. Dime President and CEO Stuart Lubow said that the bank was aggressively hiring amid the disruption of last spring's bank failures. — Catherine Leffert

UBS hires Guggenheim banker Ananya Das for services dealmaking

UBS Group is hiring Guggenheim securities banker Ananya Das as a managing director, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Das, who's based in Chicago, is set to join the Swiss lender in coming months after a period of gardening leave, reporting to Laurence Braham, who is the firm's global co-head of technology investment banking. She'll focus on providing advice to services companies, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss a move that isn't yet public.

Representatives for UBS and Guggenheim declined to comment.

Das joined Guggenheim in 2020 after roughly six years at Barclays, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority records show. She has advised on transactions involving professional services and human capital management companies, according to her LinkedIn profile. — Gillian Tan, Bloomberg News

Amex buys Tock to help with hard-to-get dinner reservations

American Express agreed to acquire Tock for $400 million from Squarespace, adding a service that helps customers book dining and other hard-to-get reservations at exclusive venues.

Tock, which provides reservations, table management and event ticketing to around 7,000 restaurants and other entertainment outlets, complements Amex's Resy business, a 2019 acquisition. Tock is known for catering to high-end restaurants, including New York City hot spots Per Se and Jean-Georges, and posh events including a recent listing for a farm-to-table dinner on Governors Island.

Restaurants are a major spending category for Amex customers, exceeding $100 billion in volume last year, Howard Grosfield, president of U.S. consumer services, said in a statement Friday. The acquisitions of Tock and mobile-payments company Rooam, which was also announced Friday, will enhance that business while also providing other avenues for Amex to provide its wealthier customers more experiences and opportunities for rewards. The purchases will also drive more customers to restaurants and venues, which are key partners for Amex.— Paige Smith, Bloomberg News

Barclays hires Deutsche Bank’s Ed Dunn for telecom deals

Barclays has hired longtime Deutsche Bank investment banker Edward Dunn to focus on telecommunications companies.

Dunn will be based in New York and report to Eric Federman, the global head of communications and media, a spokesperson for Barclays said Tuesday.

He will be a vice chairman in the communications and media group and is expected to start at the bank in late summer. Dunn will cover large telecommunications companies such as T-Mobile USA and AT&T.

A representative for Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Dunn started his career at Merill Lynch. He had been at Deutsche Bank for more than 20 years, with his most recent title being global vice chairman of corporate finance.

He has advised on deals including Apollo Global Management's purchase of Brightspeed and T-Mobile's combination with Sprint. — Michelle F. Davis, Bloomberg News