Wells Fargo invests in Black businesses, American Express promotes small businesses

November 22, 2023 3:45 PM

Wells Fargo makes a $1.5 million investment in Black entrepreneurship; America Express promotes small businesses through augmented reality; shareholders approve the Banc of California-PacWest merger; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

Wells Fargo gives $1.5 million to Black entrepreneurship center

Wells Fargo is making a $1.5 million philanthropic investment in the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, an Atlanta-based organization focused on building Black businesses.

As part of the investment, the San Francisco-based bank will help to fund micro grants of between $2,500 and $10,000 to 50 small businesses. Funds will also be used to support an initiative that enables 100 businesses each year to engage with large corporations and government agencies.

Wells has previously provided support to the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, known as RICE, which opened in 2019.

"RICE's mission to inspire and empower Black entrepreneurs is more critical than ever, as these small businesses are among the fastest-growing in Atlanta and the economy overall," Darlene Goins, the bank's head of philanthropy and community impact, said in a press release. — Kevin Wack

Shareholders approve Banc of California-PacWest merger

Shareholders in both Banc of California and PacWest Bancorp have approved their pending merger.

In separate votes held Wednesday, the deal received more than 98% approval from each company's shareholders, the two Southern California banks said in a press release. In July, Banc of California reached a deal to acquire PacWest in an all-stock transaction valued at $1 billion.

"We appreciate this vote of confidence in our transformational merger, which will create an exceptional franchise with the strength and ability to grow profitably and deliver results to our stockholders," Banc of California President and CEO Jared Wolff said in the release.

Los Angeles-based PacWest, which saw its stock price plunge amid the banking crisis earlier this year, endured a mini-deposit run before reaching the deal to sell. When the sale closes, funds managed by two private-equity firms, Warburg Pincus and Centerbridge Partners, have agreed to invest a total of $400 million in newly issued securities.

The proceeds of those sales are expected to be used to reposition the combined bank's balance sheet. The combined company will have roughly $36 billion of assets.

Santa Ana-based Banc of California said last month that it had received all of the regulatory approvals it needed to close the deal. On Wednesday, the two banks said that they now expect the deal to close on or around Nov. 30, which is a month earlier than their earlier projection. — Kevin Wack

Morgan Stanley taps Finn to run $4.8 trillion wealth business

Morgan Stanley has named Jed Finn head of the company's $4.8 trillion wealth management business, giving him oversight of the biggest revenue generator at the firm.

The move is part of co-President Andy Saperstein's revamp of the investment bank's money-management divisions. Finn, 45, has been a close lieutenant of Saperstein's since joining the firm in 2011. He was closely involved in helping integrate the Smith Barney brokerage business that Morgan Stanley purchased from Citigroup.

More recently, Finn and Saperstein sealed a deal to buy Solium Capital, a software venture that manages employee stock options. The acquisition, initially viewed with skepticism, is now seen inside the bank as a success, helping keep entrepreneurs in private companies and executives in public companies within Morgan Stanley's wealth management sphere. — Sridhar Natarajan, Bloomberg News

Italy starts 20% sale of Paschi for at least $796 million

Italy is selling about 20% of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena for at least €728 million ($796 million) as part of its plan to divest from the bailed-out lender.

The process began last month as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni seeks to maximize the value of the state's controlling stake.

Rome has long struggled to sell its 64% stake in Siena, Italy-based Paschi. Two years ago, the previous government tried and failed to combine Paschi with UniCredit SpA. But progress made under Chief Executive Officer Luigi Lovaglio, who implemented a turnaround after years of restructuring, has made Paschi more appealing to investors.

The government is seeking to merge Paschi with a similarly sized peer to create a hub which would retain the world's oldest banking brand, Bloomberg reported in September. — Sonia Sirletti and Sunil Kesur, Bloomberg News

Abu Dhabi’s $50 billion fund sets up wealth tech firm with BNY

Abu Dhabi-based alternate investment fund Lunate is partnering with Bank of New York Mellon on a new fintech venture to tap into the region's burgeoning market for wealth management.

Alpheya, which will start with $300 million of capital, will provide a range of digital services, including client onboarding, financial planning, portfolio construction, trading and rebalancing, risk management reporting and analytics, according to a statement on Tuesday.

The firm will start serving clients in the fourth quarter of 2024 and is on track to hire at least 100 staffers locally and globally, according to Akash Shah, chief growth officer at BNY Mellon. The U.S. bank has a minority stake in the new firm.

Alpheya's CEO is Roger Rouhana, who was the head of strategy at BNY Mellon in New York for almost five years. Under his leadership, the firm is looking to capture the Persian Gulf region's $5 trillion wealth market, Shah said. — Archana Narayanan, Bloomberg News

American Express boosts small businesses via augmented reality in 3 cities

American Express on Nov. 25 will promote small businesses via augmented reality in pop-up booths in central shopping zones in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Visitors may look through a door to see unique merchandise available for purchase from 10 small businesses. This year marks the 14th anniversary of the card network's Small Business Saturday. — Kate Fitzgerald