First Niagara Financial Group Inc. has completed its acquisition of NewAlliance Bancshares Inc. of New Haven, Conn.
The Buffalo, N.Y., company said that the $1.5 billion purchase created a bank with over $30 billion of assets and $18 billion of deposits in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York.
First Niagara said three of NewAlliance's directors Roxanne Coady, Carlton Highsmith and Nathaniel Woodson had joined its board. The closing was announced late Friday.
Beth Johnson, a self-described math geek, is driving the bank's ESG strategy and training its employees to keep pace with industry trends.
The Cleveland-based bank is projecting steady growth in net interest income even as credit losses remain manageable. But Chairman and CEO Chris Gorman also said that he thinks a recession is likely.
The first-quarter increase involved commercial real estate loans, including some problematic multifamily loans and an office credit, but none of the criticized loans were to consumers, officials at the Dallas company say. Further CRE deterioration is anticipated.
The Detroit-based company is exploring ways to make more consumer auto loans without running afoul of stricter capital standards that are expected from the Federal Reserve. Possible approaches include more securitizations and the use of credit risk transfers.
The House Financial Services Committee also sent to the full House two bipartisan bills, including one that would prevent large banks from opting out of having to recognize Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in regulatory capital.
Charge-offs and nonperforming loans rose at the Georgia bank in the first quarter. But it blamed the problem on one large client and said the matter has been resolved.
