When Maggie L. Walker founded St. Luke Penny Savings in Richmond 106 years ago, she became the first female bank president in the country. The institution survives today as Consolidated Bank and Trust, but a proposed merger with an out-of-state holding company threatens the historical namesake.
Banking
Virginia Business Bank hires Davenport to examine strategic options
The bank planned on raising $6 million to $9 million last fall, but, given the economic climate, that has proved more difficult than expected. The company was only able to raise a fraction of that amount.
Discount mortgages encouraging buyers
Just when it seemed mortgage rates couldn’t get any lower, First Market Bank dipped below 4 percent on mortgages for homes sold by homebuilders they lent to. Other banks followed suit, and the program is helping sell houses.
Eight Richmond branches now M&T Bank
Eight local bank branches previously operated by Maryland-based Provident Bank are under new ownership, and the new owner has a reputation for being SBA-friendly.
Three years for bank to become profitable
Pour a round of the good stuff. After three years in operation, Virginia Business Bank recorded its first quarterly profit in this year’s first quarter.
Two more Virginia banks merge
Eastern Virginia Bankshares and First Capital Bancorp announced today that they plan to merge. The all-stock deal is valued at about $27 million, with First Capital common stockholders receiving .98 shares of Eastern Virginia for every share of First Capital. Both banks are publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
First Market Bank bought by Union Bankshares
Richmond-based First Market Bank was acquired by Union Bankshares Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at about $100 million. The new holding company will move its headquarters from Bowling Green to Richmond, although that will only bring a few jobs downtown.
It’s still good to be the banker
Tarp Schmarp. Executives at Union Bankshares Corp., the parent of local Union Bank and Trust and its 43 locations, earned slightly more in 2008 than in 2007, despite a rough year. The bank accepted $59 million in federal money as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, cut the dividend payment to stock holders by… Read more »
Calling all good business loans
Change takes time. That’s one reason the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority cites when asked why its Loan Guaranty Program, which launched in October, has failed to guarantee a single loan.
Virginia bank acquires 4 branches in Md.
Another failed bank is just another opportunity for Tappahannock-based Bank of Essex. On Saturday, the Bank of Essex assumed operations of Suburban Federal Savings Bank in Crofton Md. after it was seized by federal regulators on Friday. The Bank of Essex, which is owned by Community Bankers Trust Corporation in Glen Allen, purchased all $312… Read more »