A New York bank with $59.5 billion in assets is preparing to enter the Connecticut market. New York Community Bank, subsidiary to New York Community Bancorp, has filed an application with the Connecticut Department of Banking seeking permission to take over loan production offices in Rocky Hill and Danbury that are currently operated by Flagstar […]
A New York bank with $59.5 billion in assets is preparing to enter the Connecticut market.
New York Community Bank, subsidiary to New York Community Bancorp, has filed an application with the Connecticut Department of Banking seeking permission to take over loan production offices in Rocky Hill and Danbury that are currently operated by Flagstar Bank.
New York Community Bancorp announced in April 2021, that it was merging with Michigan-based Flagstar Bancorp Inc. in a $2.6 billion all-stock deal. The deal was expected to close by the end of 2021, but has been stalled while it awaits approval from the Federal Reserve, an issue holding up other U.S. bank deals, including Buffalo-based M&T Bank’s purchase of People’s United Bank.
Some bankers have speculated that the Biden administration is cracking down on industry consolidation, which is leading to delays in bank merger approvals. Last summer, President Biden issued an executive order instructing federal regulators to strengthen oversight of bank mergers, which the White House believes are reducing competition at the expense of consumers.
Flagstar, which has $25.5 billion in assets, entered the Connecticut market in 2011, as part of a broader effort to gain a foothold in New England. At the time, Flagstar hired Steven J. Issa, a former regional CEO of Sovereign Bank, as its New England market president, to lead the company’s growth into several cities in the region, including Hartford, Providence, Rhode Island, and Boston.
Flagstar’s focus, it said at the time, was on home and middle-market commercial lending.
Once its merger is approved, the two Connecticut locations will be called “Flagstar Bank, a division of New York Community Bank,” according to the bank’s application with banking regulators.
New York Community Bank didn’t return calls seeking comment.
