Daily Brief · September 9, 2026
Bank M&A broadens alongside OpenReserve’s conditional OCC approval
The proposed on-chain ledger-based national bank faces $210 million of initial capitalization requirements and a 12% tier 1 leverage ratio. Its planned model includes proprietary blockchain infrastructure, tokenized deposits and banking-as-a-service, and OpenReserve also expects to file a separate subsidiary application for a GENIUS Act-compliant dollar-backed stablecoin called ReserveUSD.
Source: American Banker
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Digital charters and regulatory independence
Supreme Court preserved Lisa Cook’s Fed seat during litigation
The Court allowed Cook to remain on the Federal Reserve board while her removal lawsuit proceeds, but it also allowed presidential removal of appointees at other independent agencies, which may affect the National Credit Union Administration board case. A separate report said the summer ruling gives presidents greater control over agencies including the FDIC, NCUA, SEC and CFTC and could make regulatory policy more prone to partisan swings.
Sources: ABA Banking Journal, American Banker
M&A, charter ownership and capital deployment
EverBank and WaFd agreed to a $3.9 billion reverse merger
The deal would create a lender with $75 billion in assets, $59 billion in deposits and $58 billion in loans. WaFd will be the surviving holding company but rebrand as EverBank, while the combination is intended to diversify EverBank’s funding profile and accelerate WaFd’s commercial-banking shift.
Sources: Banking Dive, The Bank Slate, American Banker
Chime agreed to buy Stride Bank for $590 million
The cash transaction is subject to approvals from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve. Chime framed the deal as a faster path to full-stack ownership than pursuing its own charter, with economics that include shedding partner-bank fees and expanding lending more efficiently.
Sources: American Banker, Banking Dive
FNBO and John Marshall added disclosed-price bank acquisitions
First National Bank of Omaha agreed to acquire InBankshares for about $200 million, adding nine Colorado branches and expanding into New Mexico. John Marshall Bancorp agreed to buy Eagle Financial Services for $253 million in stock at 130% of tangible book value, giving the day’s smaller-bank deal flow both footprint-expansion and valuation-readthrough angles.
Sources: American Banker, ABA Banking Journal
Governance and management pressure
Huntington named Brant Standridge president in its succession plan
Standridge’s title change is effective immediately and gives him oversight of commercial banking and payments in addition to consumer and regional banking. Steve Steinour said he expects to remain Huntington’s CEO for about two more years.
Source: American Banker
United Bancorporation of Alabama activists escalated board and capital demands
Two investors whose firms own a combined 2% of UBA’s shares asked to join the board after earlier seeking a $40 million stock buyback, lower expenses and directors with M&A and capital-markets expertise. Their campaign also cited excess capital, ballooning expenses and stagnant deposits since a $123 million cash infusion.
Sources: American Banker, Banking Dive