Banner to buy Pacific Financial, boosting presence in Northwest
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.
A struggling Florida bank changes CEOs, raises capital
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.
Judge’s ruling is likely to scuttle San Diego credit union merger
San Diego County Credit Union won a court ruling that should help in its effort to get out of its deal to merge with a local competitor. A lawyer for SDCCU said he believes the judge’s decision “signals the end of any merger between the two institutions.”
Paystand aims a stablecoin at lingering holes in business automation
The B2B payments fintech contends the digital asset can wring inefficiencies out of corporate payments processing.
Lessons from a B2B BNPL failure in the UK
Hokodo, a British business-to-business buy now/pay later fintech, has shut down after eight years. Its closure offers important lessons about the future of the concept.
Ransomware victims got played by their own negotiators
The case exposes a systemic risk for banks: incident-response and ransomware-negotiation firms receive sensitive breach details that a corrupted insider can sell back to the attackers.
Yuni Navarro joins Ocean Bank’s board of directors
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.
Banks ‘fairly, but not totally’ satisfied with Basel rule
Even as they continue to press for additional changes, banks get some wins from the revised Basel capital framework and a ballpark estimate of their capital outlook for the next few years.
Private Credit Giants Try to Reassure Investors on AI Risks to Software Bets
Three of the biggest names in private credit moved to reassure investors this week about the AI risks facing their software borrowers.
The private-credit canary is in the coal mine, not on banks’ books
Private credit in 2026 may be like subprime mortgages in 2008, but for banks, at least, the reality may be different this time around.