In Brief: 1 Opening, 4 Pending for Michigan's Capitol

A Lansing, Mich., bank holding company that specializes in start-ups opened one this month and has four charter applications pending.

Capitol Bancorp, a $650 million-asset company, opened Muskegon Commerce Bank on Dec. 2. Joseph D. Reid, CEO of Capitol, said Muskegon would replace community banking services lost during Michigan's wave of bank consolidation.

The holding company has applications pending for a new banks in Detroit and in Grand Rapids, Mich., and two more in Arizona. Like Michigan, Arizona has experienced significant banking mergers, so it can support new community banks in Tucson and Phoenix, Mr. Reid said.

He said Capitol typically puts up 51% of the capital necessary to launch community banks. The remaining funds come from local investors, who later sit on the banks' boards of directors.

-Laura Pavlenko Lutton

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER