Over the holidays, Connecticut granted the wishes of a lender quartet that sought to relinquish their federal charters in favor of being overseen by state bank regulators.
On Dec. 29, days before his retirement, state Banking Commissioner Howard F. Pitkin issued a state bank charter to Savings Institute Bank & Trust., a $1.4 billion-asset Windham lender, according to the banking department’s homepage.
One week earlier, on Dec. 22, Pitkin approved the conversion of $1.4 billion-asset American Eagle Federal Credit Union in East Hartford to a Connecticut credit union now known as American Eagle Financial Credit Union Inc.
As part of American Eagle’s conversion, the credit union also won permission to expand its membership to the 862,000 residents of New Haven County. American Eagle can now count 2.1 million residents, or 58 percent of the state’s population, within its turf.
Rocky Hill’s $368 million-asset Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union is also expanding into New Haven County after adopting a state charter.
Finally, Pitkin also granted $453 million-asset mutual savings lender Putnam Bank a state bank charter.
All four lenders are part of what is widely seen among bank experts as a growing trend among Connecticut banks and credit unions to become state chartered so they can trim regulatory burdens and expenses tied to the Dodd-Frank bank- and consumer protection regulations.
— Gregory Seay
