Va. Leadership: The Power 50
What does power mean? How do you determine who wields more than others? How can you measure an intangible but very real force? In our annual list of the 50 most powerful leaders in Virginia, we set out to do just that, considering the number of employees an executive leads, personal wealth and other metrics. […]
Banks, credit unions revisit in-person banking strategies
A former Village Bank branch in Chesterfield County is now a Dunkin’ doughnuts and coffee shop, complete with a drive-thru. Roanoke’s former First National Bank building has found new life as a 54-room boutique hotel. In Hampton, the former Bank of Hampton Roads building is a doggy day care. It’s true that bank customers do […]
Community banking association head Yeakel to retire; successor named
Steve Yeakel, president and CEO of the Henrico County-based Virginia Association of Community Banks, announced Tuesday he will retire at the end of the year, and will be succeeded by Corey Connors, executive director of the Virginia Forestry Association. Connors will join the professional organization in September and assume duties as president and CEO of […]
Atlantic Union completes $507M purchase of American National
Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bankshares completed its acquisition Monday of Danville-based American National Bankshares, parent company of American National Bank and Trust. Based on the $35.31/share closing price Thursday of Atlantic Union common stock, the transaction value was approximately $507 million, according to Atlantic Union’s news release Monday. The deal was announced in July 202[...]
Slowly bot surely
From health care to real estate and law, artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly bigger part of many industries, with executives rolling out new tools and updating policies. Like other businesses, banks and credit unions too have been exploring this electronic frontier, although they’re pairing technological progress with caution. Even if you’re new to the […]
Atlantic Union CEO tapped as American Bankers Assoc. chair-elect
Atlantic Union Bankshares CEO John C. Asbury is the 2023-2024 chair-elect for the American Bankers Association. ABA announced its new board officers and directors on Tuesday, following its annual convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Asbury was the ABA’s 2022-2023 vice chair. He’s a past chairman of the Virginia Bankers Association and the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of […]
Building equity
When BB&T recruited Thomas Ransom, a Black economics student at Hampden-Sydney College, to join its management development program in the late 1990s, he quickly had to pick up the world of banking and its culture. The Urbanna native says he’d never met a banker before starting at BB&T and certainly didn’t know what moves to […]
Atlantic Union to acquire American National Bank
Updated 4:15 p.m. July 25 Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bank’s parent company announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire American National Bankshares Inc., which is headquartered in Danville and is the holding company of American National Bank and Trust Co. The combined bank will have total assets of $23.7 billion as of […]
TowneBank hires chief risk officer, senior EVP
Suffolk-based TowneBank appointed Ernest Piccioli as senior executive vice president and chief risk officer, the bank announced Monday. Piccioli is based at TowneBank’s headquarters. As chief risk officer, he will be responsible for governance of the company’s risk programs and oversee risk management, vendor management, credit review and appraisal services. “Having Ernest aboard as chief [&[...]
Blue Ridge Bank names CEO
G. William “Billy” Beale became CEO of Blue Ridge Bank National Association on Sunday, giving the bank a leader separate from that of its parent company, Charlottesville-based Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc. “I am excited to have the opportunity to join this team at a critical time in the banking industry,” Beale said in a statement. […]
Barkin: Raising interest rates is correct course
As inflation remains high and the fallout from recent bank failures seems contained, the Federal Reserve Bank has good reason to continue raising interest rates, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Tom Barkin said Thursday in a speech to the Virginia Council of CEOs at the University of Richmond. “It is worth remembering that not […]
Va. bankers say they’re not worried by SVB collapse
Last weekend was pretty tense for bankers, even for those leading institutions quite distant and different from Silicon Valley Bank, which Friday became the second largest bank to fail in U.S. history. Federal regulators shut down SVB after a run on the bank. By Sunday, regulators also shut down New York’s Signature Bank, which became […]