FDIC provides conditional approval for Ohio de novo bank

A de novo proposed in Ohio has received conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

First Bank of Central Ohio was approved for deposit insurance on Jan. 5, according to a notice recently posted on the FDIC’s website. Organizers must raise $20 million in capital before the bank can open, according to the agency’s approval order.

The bank would be based in Worthington, a suburb north of Columbus.

Organizers said when they announced plans for the bank in August that John Smiley would be chairman and CEO. He previously served as president of Columbus First Bancorp, which was sold in 2018 to LCNB.

Several de novo efforts have taken plan in Ohio in recent years.

Ohio State Bank opened in Columbus in April 2019 after organizers raised nearly $25 million in initial capital. The FDIC in March 2019 approved an application for deposit insurance filed by organizers of Riverside Bank of Dublin, though that bank has yet to open.