BankMiami gets a starting date; RBC teams with the LA Galaxy

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Florida regulators have given a green light to BankMiami, giving the metropolitan area its first new bank since the banking crisis of 2008. And the ties between financial services and sports are getting deeper, as Royal Bank of Canada signed a sponsorship deal with the LA Galaxy soccer team. That and more in the American Banker weekly news roundup.
New community bank to launch in Miami
De novo BankMiami plans to open for business on March 17, the start-up’s organizers said in a LinkedIn post.
Organizers received approvals from Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Organizers were required to raise more than $30 million of initial capital.
BankMiami said in its application that it expects to have $390 million of assets by the end of its third year. It projected profitability in the third quarter of its second year.
Mary Usategui is expected to serve as BankMiami’s president and CEO. Usategui was chief financial officer of Professional Bank in Miami until it was acquired by Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida in 2023.
BankMiami would be the first de novo in South Florida’s largest market since 2008. —Jim Dobbs

Benjamin Girette/Bloomberg
Citi taps new accounting chief
Citigroup has hired JPMorgan Chase veteran Nicole Giles as its chief accounting officer, effective Friday.
Giles, who most recently served at JPMorgan as chief financial officer of commercial and investment banking, will mark Citi’s permanent replacement after former chief accounting officer and controller Johnbull Okpara left last fall for the same role at Bank of America. Since then, Robert Walsh and Patrick Scally have been serving as the top accounting and controller on an interim basis.
In her new role, Giles will be paid a base salary of $500,000 and will receive replacement deferred equity and cash awards totaling about $13.7 million, slated to vest until January 2029.
Citi said it would give CEO Jane Fraser

Royal Bank of Canada signs partnership deal with LA Galaxy
Royal Bank of Canada and its Los Angeles-based subsidiary will sponsor the LA Galaxy men’s soccer team.
RBC’s City National Bank will serve as the official bank and wealth management partner for the team, which won the 2024 Major League Soccer Cup, LA Galaxy said in a press release last week.
The multi-year partnership includes branding on the team’s uniforms and stadium and expands upon RBC Wealth Management U.S.’s existing sponsorship of MLS.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The team’s previous sponsor in the bank and wealth management category,

Ed Massery/F.N.B. Corporation
FNB opens headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh
FNB Corp., the holding company for First National Bank in Pittsburgh, marked the grand opening of its new downtown headquarters this week. The bank owns and occupies the majority of the 26-story tower in the city’s Hill District.
The newest addition to the Pittsburgh skyline, and one of the few multi-tenant towers constructed in the central business district during the past four decades, FNB Financial Center adds a modern workspace and amenities to the downtown marketplace, the bank said in a press release. It is part of an effort to revitalize the Hill District neighborhood.
“It is extremely rewarding to have played a role in bringing hundreds of high-quality jobs to Pittsburgh, and also to have realized the vision for this building for our employees and the community,” FNB Chairman and Vincent J. Delie Jr. said. “Growing up on Pittsburgh’s North Side with views of the city, I was inspired by our skyline and its beauty, and now FNB is part of it.” —Jim Dobbs

Veteran bank executive Robert Goldstein dies at 84
Robert Goldstein, whose banking career spanned 50 years and companies across the country, died Monday of complications caused by pancreatic cancer. He was 84 and lived in Westport, Connecticut.
According to his obituary, he was the CEO of several banks, first in the Northeast turning around troubled lenders and later in various markets starting up new banks. In all, he held leadership roles at 20 financial institutions in 11 states. He worked up until late 2024. Most recently, he was a founding principal in CapGen Financial, a private investment fund that invests in community banks. He also served on the board of directors at the $166 million-asset Cypress Bank & Trust in Melbourne, Florida.
Tom…
Read More: BankMiami gets a starting date; RBC teams with the LA Galaxy