Retail & Commercial

The FDIC moved quickly on Friday to sell $288 million in assets Community Bank and Trust – West Georgia to Anchor Bank, but the sale announcement leaves the fate of $27 million in uninsured deposits to be determined. 

Banner Bank is poised to merge with Bank of the Pacific in an all-stock deal valued at $177 million. The two Washington-based commercial banks both have branches in Washington and Oregon.

BayFirst Financial in St. Petersburg named veteran Tampa-area banker Al Rogers as its CEO and announced an $80 million capital raise. The bank sold its SBA-lending business last year, but it's still struggling to work through problems in its legacy loan portfolio.

Miami's Ocean Bank appointed Yuni Navarro to its board of directors; Indiana-based Interra Credit Union announced it will acquire The Hicksville Bank in Ohio; JPMorganChase hired Chris Mihok from Keefe Bruyette and Woods; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Three of the biggest names in private credit moved to reassure investors this week about the AI risks facing their software borrowers.

Refinances drove growth of last year's lending activity, with both the volume share and average loan size coming in noticeably higher, according to IEmergent.

Private credit in 2026 may be like subprime mortgages in 2008, but for banks, at least, the reality may be different this time around.

The recent uptick in commercial-and-industrial lending is the result of disruption in the private credit sector, one economist argues. Bank analysts say the upheaval in private credit is one factor among many.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a new version of a small-business lending rule that took 17 years to get over the finish line. Banks are still lobbying for the rule to be repealed.