Arlington-based Leader Bank has become the second Boston-area community bank to intentionally pursue clients in the region’s tech economy with the hiring of eight-year First Republic Bank veteran Vitaliy Schafer.
In the deal, JPMorgan acquired 84 First Republic branches, bringing it $92 billion in deposits and $203 billion in loans and other securities.
Former First Republic wealth manager Lewis Mai has joined Berkshire Bank’s wealth management team.
With hundreds of layoffs at Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank, it’s hard to find someone to help you drown your sorrows.
For any Massachusetts banks hoping to lure away former First Republic workers and their client relationships, it appears that next Wednesday could be the magic day.
All other things being equal, the disappearance of a well-known bank from the local real estate lending market would send other banks rushing in to scoop up borrowers looking for new partners. But First Republic’s collapse two weeks ago is likely to leave a longer-term void in Greater Boston.
Uncertainty continues to pummel the banking industry, despite assurances from financial regulators and bankers such as Jamie Dimon this week that the worst of the recent crisis is over and the health of the banking system remains strong.
First Republic Bank was the dominant force financing Boston’s luxury real estate scene in the last 10 years, and its sudden failure is leaving questions lingering in the air.
Prior to its failure and sale to JPMorgan Chase early Monday morning, First Republic Bank had been among Massachusetts’ top residential mortgage lenders.
San Francisco-based First Republic is the third midsize bank to fail in two months. It is the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history.
Last week’s bank earnings reports confirm: It’s going to be a long wait before projects will be able to find ready financing again.
It’s getting harder to write off two recent bank failures as outliers. But it’s unclear if that means it’s 2008 all over again or events are rhyming with a different financial crisis.
Despite message of reassurance from the White House, investors continued to dump shares in bank stocks Monday morning. Shares of First Republic Bank plunged more than 70 percent even after the bank said it was accessing emergency funding from the Federal Reserve.
