Atlantic Union has 109 branches and keeps its headquarters in downtown Richmond.
In a year when rising interest rates kept the banking industry on its toes, two of Richmond’s biggest financial institutions in particular grabbed repeated headlines throughout 2023.
First was Atlantic Union Bank, which was in the news for a variety of reasons over the last 12 months.
Earlier in the year it announced a multi-pronged plan to slash $17 million in costs annually. That involved laying off 4 percent of its employees and reducing the amount of its leased corporate office space, including in James Center downtown.
Weeks later, it announced a pending deal to acquire American National Bank & Trust Co., a $3 billion, 114-year-old institution based in Danville. Should it close as expected in the new year, the $416 million deal will give AUB an expanded presence in Southwest and Southside Virginia, and sought-after markets in North Carolina.
The $20 billion bank then disclosed the sale of 25 of its 109 branches to real estate investment group Blue Owl Capital for $45.8 million. As part of the deal, AUB will lease back the sold branches for at least 17 years and continue to operate the locations as usual. The bank has yet to disclose the specific branches that were subject to the transaction.
In early December it was announced that AUB was hit by an enforcement action and fines from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The federal agency announced that Atlantic Union Bank has agreed to pay $1.5 million in penalties and repay at least $5 million to affected customers to settle charges that it illegally enrolled thousands in checking account overdraft programs without proper disclosures. The bank emphasized that it “does not admit to any wrongdoing, past or present,” as part of the settlement and chose to settle the matter to “continue focusing on providing the products, services, and support our customers want.”
VACU
Virginia Credit Union will continue with the same name even after it converts into a federal credit union. (BizSense file photo)
Also getting its share of the spotlight during the year was Richmond’s biggest credit union, Virginia Credit Union.
VACU, which has $5 billion in assets, continued its branch expansion streak in the city limits with the opening of a location on the ground floor of the Berkeley Hotel downtown. It was its fifth new outpost in the city since 2022, joining spots in Carytown, Scott’s Addition and the Arts District, and has another in the works in Church Hill.
VACU also took initial steps to allow it to grow and expand more easily. It announced its efforts to convert from a state charter to a federal charter, a move that, if approved, would enable it to avoid being regulated by the state and be solely overseen by the National Credit Union Administration.
While it awaits regulatory approval for that move, VACU expanded in Charlottesville by absorbing the tiny Virginia Trailways Federal Credit Union, which had just $2 million in assets and 525 members.
Branch moves
TowneBank made extensive renovations to the former BB&T branch in Short Pump.
Much of the other local banking headlines this year were driven by branch openings and closing, including from locally based and out-of-town competitors.
First National Bank, a $45 billion Pennsylvania-based bank, began plotting its first two Richmond-area branches. It planning from-scratch location near Willow Lawn and to take over a vacated AUB branch in Short Pump.
TowneBank finally made its debut in Short Pump with the opening of a new branch in front of Short Pump Town Center. It’s the bank’s ninth location in the region.
National giant Chase Bank continued a streak that began a few years ago by adding more branches around the region. Its latest is in the works on the grounds of the ever-evolving Regency mall.
Fulton Bank, a $26 billion bank out of Pennsylvania, is looking to add to it local branch county a new location at 3200 W. Broad St. in The Icon development along Scott’s Addition’s southern border.
Bank of America has new two from-scratch branches in planning near Willow Lawn and Brandermill, while it also announced its intention to close its branch at 1111 E. Main St., on the ground floor of the downtown office tower that bears the BofA name.
BofA’s national competitor Wells Fargo continued its methodical trimming of branches over the course of the year. It closed its spots at 122 E. Grace St. downtown; at 3501 W. Broad St. across from Scott’s Addition; at 8215 W. Broad St., at the corner of Parham Road in Henrico County; and its Bellwood Plaza branch in North Chesterfield.
Similar to AUB, Primis Bank looked to slash some expenses by cutting three dozen employees and also shuttering some branches. The $3.8 billion bank, which keeps its headquarters in Henrico and its parent company in McLean, closed its Midlothian outpost at 13804 Hull Street Road and its New Kent County branch at 2599 New Kent Highway. They were part of a round of closures of eight of the bank’s 32 locations. Primis also disclosed a long-running fraud perpetrated by one of its loan officers.
Another out-of-town player making its first move into the market was Southern Bank, a $4.7 billion institution with headquarters in Mount Olive, North Carolina. Leading Southern’s charge here is veteran banker John Neal, who joined the bank in recent months as its local market executive. The bank’s full strategy for Richmond remains to be seen.
On the credit union front, Hampton Roads-based Langley Federal Credit Union, a $5 billion institution that’s one of the largest credit unions in the state, expanded into the Richmond market for the first time. Its initial flag here was planted in Short Pump, where it took over the former Wells Fargo branch at 11151 W. Broad St. in West Broad Village.
Two local credit unions, Chesterfield-based Partners Financial FCU and Argent Credit Union in Henrico combined via a merger. The deal combined Partners’ $93.7 million in assets and 7,900 members with that of Argent, which has $426 million in assets and 28,000 members.
Billy Beale un-retires again
Billy Beale has been leading Blue Ridge Bank since the summer.
Veteran Richmond banker Billy Beale, who first retired as CEO of what’s now Atlantic Union Bank in 2016 only to un-retire for a brief gig at Community Bankers’ Bank in 2018, un-retired once again earlier this year. This time it was to take the helm of Blue Ridge Bank, which is based in Charlottesville but keeps executive offices and a sizable branch presence in the Richmond area. Beale was brought in to get the bank out from under added regulatory scrutiny. It was put under a written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which found that Blue Ridge had certain “unsafe or unsound practices.”
Deposits
The FDIC’s annual deposit market share report was extra interesting this year, as it showed an exodus of nearly $3 billion in deposits from Richmond-area bank branches occurred since June of 2022. Of the 27 banks with a retail presence in the local market, 16 reported a decline in deposits in their Richmond-area locations over the 12-month period.
Atlantic Union has 109 branches and keeps its headquarters in downtown Richmond.
In a year when rising interest rates kept the banking industry on its toes, two of Richmond’s biggest financial institutions in particular grabbed repeated headlines throughout 2023.
First was Atlantic Union Bank, which was in the news for a variety of reasons over the last 12 months.
Earlier in the year it announced a multi-pronged plan to slash $17 million in costs annually. That involved laying off 4 percent of its employees and reducing the amount of its leased corporate office space, including in James Center downtown.
Weeks later, it announced a pending deal to acquire American National Bank & Trust Co., a $3 billion, 114-year-old institution based in Danville. Should it close as expected in the new year, the $416 million deal will give AUB an expanded presence in Southwest and Southside Virginia, and sought-after markets in North Carolina.
The $20 billion bank then disclosed the sale of 25 of its 109 branches to real estate investment group Blue Owl Capital for $45.8 million. As part of the deal, AUB will lease back the sold branches for at least 17 years and continue to operate the locations as usual. The bank has yet to disclose the specific branches that were subject to the transaction.
In early December it was announced that AUB was hit by an enforcement action and fines from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The federal agency announced that Atlantic Union Bank has agreed to pay $1.5 million in penalties and repay at least $5 million to affected customers to settle charges that it illegally enrolled thousands in checking account overdraft programs without proper disclosures. The bank emphasized that it “does not admit to any wrongdoing, past or present,” as part of the settlement and chose to settle the matter to “continue focusing on providing the products, services, and support our customers want.”
VACU
Virginia Credit Union will continue with the same name even after it converts into a federal credit union. (BizSense file photo)
Also getting its share of the spotlight during the year was Richmond’s biggest credit union, Virginia Credit Union.
VACU, which has $5 billion in assets, continued its branch expansion streak in the city limits with the opening of a location on the ground floor of the Berkeley Hotel downtown. It was its fifth new outpost in the city since 2022, joining spots in Carytown, Scott’s Addition and the Arts District, and has another in the works in Church Hill.
VACU also took initial steps to allow it to grow and expand more easily. It announced its efforts to convert from a state charter to a federal charter, a move that, if approved, would enable it to avoid being regulated by the state and be solely overseen by the National Credit Union Administration.
While it awaits regulatory approval for that move, VACU expanded in Charlottesville by absorbing the tiny Virginia Trailways Federal Credit Union, which had just $2 million in assets and 525 members.
Branch moves
TowneBank made extensive renovations to the former BB&T branch in Short Pump.
Much of the other local banking headlines this year were driven by branch openings and closing, including from locally based and out-of-town competitors.
First National Bank, a $45 billion Pennsylvania-based bank, began plotting its first two Richmond-area branches. It planning from-scratch location near Willow Lawn and to take over a vacated AUB branch in Short Pump.
TowneBank finally made its debut in Short Pump with the opening of a new branch in front of Short Pump Town Center. It’s the bank’s ninth location in the region.
National giant Chase Bank continued a streak that began a few years ago by adding more branches around the region. Its latest is in the works on the grounds of the ever-evolving Regency mall.
Fulton Bank, a $26 billion bank out of Pennsylvania, is looking to add to it local branch county a new location at 3200 W. Broad St. in The Icon development along Scott’s Addition’s southern border.
Bank of America has new two from-scratch branches in planning near Willow Lawn and Brandermill, while it also announced its intention to close its branch at 1111 E. Main St., on the ground floor of the downtown office tower that bears the BofA name.
BofA’s national competitor Wells Fargo continued its methodical trimming of branches over the course of the year. It closed its spots at 122 E. Grace St. downtown; at 3501 W. Broad St. across from Scott’s Addition; at 8215 W. Broad St., at the corner of Parham Road in Henrico County; and its Bellwood Plaza branch in North Chesterfield.
Similar to AUB, Primis Bank looked to slash some expenses by cutting three dozen employees and also shuttering some branches. The $3.8 billion bank, which keeps its headquarters in Henrico and its parent company in McLean, closed its Midlothian outpost at 13804 Hull Street Road and its New Kent County branch at 2599 New Kent Highway. They were part of a round of closures of eight of the bank’s 32 locations. Primis also disclosed a long-running fraud perpetrated by one of its loan officers.
Another out-of-town player making its first move into the market was Southern Bank, a $4.7 billion institution with headquarters in Mount Olive, North Carolina. Leading Southern’s charge here is veteran banker John Neal, who joined the bank in recent months as its local market executive. The bank’s full strategy for Richmond remains to be seen.
On the credit union front, Hampton Roads-based Langley Federal Credit Union, a $5 billion institution that’s one of the largest credit unions in the state, expanded into the Richmond market for the first time. Its initial flag here was planted in Short Pump, where it took over the former Wells Fargo branch at 11151 W. Broad St. in West Broad Village.
Two local credit unions, Chesterfield-based Partners Financial FCU and Argent Credit Union in Henrico combined via a merger. The deal combined Partners’ $93.7 million in assets and 7,900 members with that of Argent, which has $426 million in assets and 28,000 members.
Billy Beale un-retires again
Billy Beale has been leading Blue Ridge Bank since the summer.
Veteran Richmond banker Billy Beale, who first retired as CEO of what’s now Atlantic Union Bank in 2016 only to un-retire for a brief gig at Community Bankers’ Bank in 2018, un-retired once again earlier this year. This time it was to take the helm of Blue Ridge Bank, which is based in Charlottesville but keeps executive offices and a sizable branch presence in the Richmond area. Beale was brought in to get the bank out from under added regulatory scrutiny. It was put under a written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which found that Blue Ridge had certain “unsafe or unsound practices.”
Deposits
The FDIC’s annual deposit market share report was extra interesting this year, as it showed an exodus of nearly $3 billion in deposits from Richmond-area bank branches occurred since June of 2022. Of the 27 banks with a retail presence in the local market, 16 reported a decline in deposits in their Richmond-area locations over the 12-month period.