Banking news roundup

April 14, 2023 12:05 PM

Truist Financial completes sale of insurance division, loses a regional president to Huntington Bancshares, a group of Fiserv clients will join Federal Reserve's real-time payments network, FedNow, Texas Capital hires ex-Goldman Sachs exec, credit union mergers and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Truist completes partial sale of insurance division

Truist Financial has finalized the sale of one-fifth of its insurance brokerage subsidiary to Stone Point Capital, a private-equity firm in Greenwich, Connecticut, Truist said in a recent press release. Announced in mid-February, the deal to sell 20% of Truist Insurance Holdings, which is the sixth-largest broker in the country, for $1.95 billion was touted as a way for the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Truist to fund future growth and increase earnings over time. The unit will continue to be led by Truist Insurance Holdings Chairman and CEO John Howard, while it will be overseen by a five-person board that includes four members appointed by Truist and one member appointed by Stone Point, Truist said in the press release. The deal will increase Truist's common equity Tier 1 capital ratio by about 30 basis points, the company said. Last year, the unit made up 13% of Truist's total revenue and 35% of its overall fee income. — Allissa Kline

USAlliance Federal Credit Union CEO leaves to take the helm at Mass. credit union

The board of directors for USAlliance Federal Credit Union in Rye, New York, announced Monday that chief executive Kristin P. VanBeek (pictured above) is stepping down sometime in the second quarter. VanBeek, who has been at the helm of the $2.8+ billion-asset credit union for more than ten years, will succeed Thomas White as CEO of the $2.8 billion-asset Rockland Federal Credit Union in Massachusetts. "I hope to see and work towards both organizations growing stronger together as peers and partners in the coming months and years," VanBeek said in a press release. — Frank Gargano

Indiana credit unions complete merger

Ball State Financial, a division of Financial Center First Credit Union, completed its merger with Muncie Post Office Credit Union in Indiana, effective April 1. Established in 1928, the $500,000-asset MPOCU served Muncie Post Office employees and their immediate family members for nearly a century. The $847 million-asset Financial Center First, which is based in Indianapolis, said members in Muncie are primarily served by Ball State Financial's Oakwood branch. Financial Center First Credit Union earned $4.9 million in 2022, an 11% increase compared with a year earlier, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration. — Ken McCarthy

Richmond City Employees Federal Credit Union merges into Kemba Credit Union

Richmond City Employees Federal Credit Union in Richmond, Indiana, officially combined with Kemba Credit Union in West Chester, Ohio, on April 1. Richmond City Employees FCU — which was placed into conservatorship by the National Credit Union Administration in December 2022 — had roughly $6.97 million of assets at the time of the merger with the $1.6 billion-asset Kemba Credit Union. The combined institution now has more than 126,000 members. — Frank Gargano

CEO of ORNL Federal Credit Union to retire

Colin Anderson, president and chief executive of ORNL Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is retiring after more than eight years at the helm. The $3.1 billion-asset credit union announced that Anderson, who joined the credit union in January 2013 as its chief financial officer and took on his current leadership roles in July 2015, will step down on Sept. 30. "Together we have worked hard to be the best financial partner for our members and to make our community a great place to live, work, and play," Anderson said in a press release on Tuesday. — Frank Gargano

Ex-Goldman banker Edgar launches middle-market investment bank

Former Goldman Sachs banker Matt Edgar has launched a new investment bank for middle-market clients. Located in midtown Manhattan, Edgar Matthews & Co. will advise emerging and established middle-market companies on capital market matters, including restructuring and mergers and acquisitions. "We see a clear white space in the current investment banking ecosystem as middle market companies generally have the same, if not greater, corporate finance needs as larger businesses," Edgar said in the statement. According to a person familiar with the matter, the firm launched with seed capital from its CEO's banking career alongside outside funding. — By Kamaron Leach, Bloomberg News

Huntington taps Truist exec to oversee its regional banks

Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, recruited one of Truist Financial's regional presidents to fill a newly created position overseeing regional banking teams across its 11-state footprint. Christian Corts (pictured above) spent the past two years as the $555 billion-asset Truist's regional president in Tennessee for Truist and one of its predecessor companies, BB&T. Corts joined BB&T through its leadership development program in June 2008. In his new role at the $183 billion-asset Huntington, Corts will be responsible for the financial performance of Huntington's 11 regions. Corts will oversee a team of regional presidents, market presidents and regional market managers. The overarching goal is to keep Huntington as nimble and responsive as possible, so that it operates like a local bank despite its growing size. "At our core, Huntington is a community bank that is deeply connected to our local communities," Brant Standridge, Huntington's president of consumer and regional banking, said Thursday in a press release. "I am excited to join Huntington Bank and lead an incredibly talented regional banking team," Corts said in the press release. — John Reosti

Fiserv adds banks to FedNow

About 20 Fiserv clients have committed to be part of the FedNow service, the Federal Reserve's real-time payments network set to go live in July. The banks will use the bank technology company's Now Gateway, which supports real-time payment settlement. There are additional banks in Fiserv's pipeline that should join the FedNow network in the coming months, according to the company. The FedNow network will go live after years of preparation, potentially reaching more than 11,000 financial institutions with technology that allows payments to settle in less than a minute. FedNow will join The Clearing House's RTP network, which has been live for about five years and has 320 members, covering about 70% of the addressable bank accounts in the U.S. — John Adams

Texas Capital appoints ex-Goldman Sachs exec to oversee credit function

Texas Capital Bancshares in Dallas has hired David Youngberg Jr. to fill the Dallas-based bank's chief credit officer seat. Youngberg, who most recently led Goldman Sachs' risk division office in Dallas, will be responsible for leading Texas Capital's credit approval, underwriting and monitoring processes, the company said in a press release. He succeeds Curtis Anderson, who led the credit function at Texas Capital for more than three and a half years before departing in January to work at Veritex Community Bank, according to Anderson's LinkedIn profile. Youngberg, who has also been a senior credit officer and commodities credit risk manager for Goldman Sachs in New York, will report to Tim Storms, chief risk officer, the press release said. — Allissa Kline