John Reosti

Banks seeking to offload CRE assets are finding a receptive marketplace while regulators have managed to keep the situation in balance, observers say.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based bank hired Steven Sugarman to be its president. The former bank CEO, who now heads one of the country's largest mission-based lenders, will help drive an effort to close a capital gap.

Some lenders are once again hiring mortgage lenders, but memories of the painful staffing cuts they were forced to make over the past two years remain top of mind.

The Vienna, Virginia-based credit union will pay tens of millions of dollars in penalties over what the agency said was "junk fees" charged to Navy Federal's customers.

HomeStreet and FirstSun are working to devise a new formula after the Texas Department of Banking and the Federal Reserve declined to approve their merger application.

The veteran turnaround executive was hired in 2020 to salvage the troubled banking company after the Justice Department launched a far-reaching probe of its mortgage lending practices. It agreed to sell to Florida-based EverBank.

The $17 billion-asset Suffolk-based company is convinced paying $120 million for an in-state rival is a more productive use of capital than share buybacks

The sale of the $318 million-asset portfolio comes five weeks after the Greenville, South Carolina-based company agreed to sell its investment advisory unit.

The Cleveland-based regional bank continues to benefit from strength in investment banking, though concerns about stalled loan growth emerged as CEO Chris Gorman described demand as tepid.

In talks with OCC officials, "it became obvious that we would not gain near-term approval given their recent experience with multifamily and CRE positions," FirstSun CEO Neal Arnold says. The companies announced other revisions to their deal, too.

The agency had intended to block access to tax data by most lenders on June 30 as part of a policy change that sought to protect taxpayer privacy. But drew broad opposition from the financial services industry.

Known by his nickname Buz, John Gorman helped the Conference of State Bank Supervisors launch its nationwide cooperative agreement in 2006 and the National Multistate Licensing System for mortgage lenders two years later.

Cullen/Frost in Texas, BankUnited in Florida and Bank OZK in Arkansas are among the banks that have, at least for now, allayed investors' fears about their exposure to the CRE sector.

The Seattle bank's stock price fell in 2023 amid concerns over rising interest rates and its concentration of multifamily loans. The buyer is FirstSun Capital Bancorp, which raised $175 million as part of the deal.

The agency plans to restrict access to a system that provides borrower tax returns to mortgage lenders beginning June 30. Left out of the loop, small-business lenders say getting credit to borrowers will become more difficult as a result.

Southern Bancorp in Little Rock, Arkansas, plans to put $250 million in equity capital it received from the Treasury Department to good use making mortgages and acquiring banks.

The deadline for a $28 million deal between Bancorp 34 and CBOA Financial was pushed later into 2024 after Bancorp 34, the buyer, announced it would restate third-quarter results to reflect a significant loss tied to a worsening commercial real estate credit.

Washington Trust shares plunged after the Westerly, Rhode Island, company disclosed it booked an office deal in the third quarter, boosting the size of its portfolio while other lenders are pulling back.

American Bank of Oklahoma agreed to a consent order in August to settle allegations from the Department of Justice over redlining. However, the institution strenuously objected to references to the Tulsa Race Massacre in the agreement and asked that the language be stricken.

Commercial real estate loans are a growing area of concern for banks. But OceanFirst says its exposure to a troubled shared credit tied to a Manhattan office building isn't a sign of broader problems in its portfolio.