Pacific National in Miami Discloses Buyer's Identity

A group of employees at Black Diamond Capital Management are looking to buy Pacific National Bank.

The $355 million-asset bank said in October that it had agreed to sell itself, but it did not disclose the buyers. Pacific National disclosed in a recent change-in-control application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that Michael Moreno, Stephen Deckoff, Leslie Meier and Mounir Nahas are looking to buy the Miami bank, according to the South Florida Business Journal.

Two years ago, Pacific National was required to sell itself after Ecuador's central bank ordered Banco del Pacifico, the bank's parent, to transfer ownership to a development bank owned by the Ecuadorean government. Because the development bank was not approved as a U.S. bank holding company, Pacific National's shares were placed in a trust and the bank was required to seek a buyer.

Moreno, a principal at Black Diamond, told the Business Journal that the Greenwich, Conn., asset management firm is not involved with the deal.

Pacific National has one branch in Miami. It is operating under a 2011 consent order with the OCC requiring the bank to improve its anti-money laundering compliance.