Organizers have withdrawn their application to create a new bank based in Fairfield, even as a New Canaan-based company pushes ahead with plans for a “de novo” bank in Fairfield next month.
Bank of Fairfield is on track to open after Labor Day, the company”™s president Bob Cocks indicated, requiring only approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Connecticut Department of Banking. The company is owned by BNC Financial Group Inc., the holding company for the Bank of New Canaan, which hopes it can rack up deposits more quickly by creating a “homegrown” bank in Fairfield, with local advisors, than it could by opening a branch with the BNC or New Canaan moniker.
Meanwhile, Harbor Bank & Trust withdrew its application with the Connecticut Department of Banking to open a debut branch in the Southport section of Fairfield.
The dual moves illustrate the continued problems facing small banks, which received a boost this year as large banks scaled back lending as credit markets teetered. While that provided smaller banks with an opportunity to snare additional business, they are doing so in an uncertain economic environment affecting consumers and commercial entities alike.
For its own part, Bank of New Canaan launched at an auspicious time in 2002, just in time for an economic expansion that allowed it to pile up more than $160 million in deposits through this past March.
“We are well capitalized and we are going to be in the marketplace making loans,” Cocks said. “To say the least, some of the larger banks have been distracted, and I think it creates an opportunity for us. But they will be back and they are very good at what they do.”
The organizers of Harbor Bank & Trust hired Stephen Carta to launch the bank, himself a local veteran of Bank of America Corp. and Hudson United Bank, which was subsequently acquired by TDBanknorth.
The company hired Brian Riley as chief executive officer, the former CEO of a fast-growing bank in Santa Ana, Calif., but he is no longer listed on Harbor Bank & Trust”™s management team.
While that leaves Bank of Fairfield one less competitor for the time being, it also comes at a time when the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports continued weakness in loan demand, particularly in consumer finance where only 12 percent of area bankers reported an increase as of July.
On the plus side, bankers indicated they are seeing little change in delinquency rates for commercial loans, including commercial mortgages.
“I”™d love to see the real estate market get a little stronger,” Cocks said.
The bank”™s board of directors is heavily weighted with Fairfield residents that are experts in real estate. Jeffrey Dunne is vice chairman of the commercial real-estate firm CB Richard Ellis. Scott Brooks is vice president of commercial-property owner Brooks, Torrey & Scott Inc. Frank Duzy is a Realtor with Higgins Group. Frank Izzo has developed commercial projects through AFI Inc. William Fitzpatrick is a real-estate attorney who is a partner of Fitzpatrick, Fray and Bologna.
Bank of Fairfield”™s chairman is Victor Liss, a Stratford resident who is the former CEO of outdoor billboard maker Trans-Lux Corp.
