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Tag: AB – Technology

  • Blue Ridge Bank appoints a president of its fintech division

    Blue Ridge Bank appoints a president of its fintech division

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    Blue Ridge Bankshares has named a president of its fintech division. 

    On Tuesday the Charlottesville, Virginia, bank announced that Kirsten Muetzel would oversee its fintech practice, which involves managing the bank’s partners, ensuring regulatory compliance and furthering its banking-as-a-service strategy. 

    Kirsten Muetzel, the new president of Blue Ridge Bank’s fintech division, spent a decade in the Federal Reserve system, including supervising banks in banking-as-a-service relationships.

    Previously, Muetzel spent a decade in the Federal Reserve system, including supervising banks in BaaS partnerships, and has served as a chief financial officer and chief risk officer for fintech companies.

    “She brings the perfect combination of banking supervision experience coupled with fintech industry knowledge and business acumen,” said Brian Plum, chief executive officer of the $2.9 billion-asset Blue Ridge Bank, in a press release. “Kirsten will be instrumental as we continue building the necessary infrastructure to support current partnerships while preparing the foundation upon which to build future success.”

    The bank has run into trouble with regulators before. It had to delay its merger with FVCBankcorp in 2021 after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency raised concerns and called off the deal in early 2022. In September, a securities filing revealed that the OCC required Blue Ridge Bank to make several changes. It must obtain a non-objection from the OCC before it signs any contracts with new fintech partners or adds new products with its existing partners, refine the ways it complies with the Bank Secrecy Act, and explain how it will improve its monitoring of suspicious activity.

    One possible trigger behind this enforcement action: the dissolution of Aeldra Financial, a company that partnered with Blue Ridge to offer U.S. bank accounts to non-U.S. citizens in India. The company ceased operations in August, and various members of Blue Ridge’s board of directors signed the agreement with the OCC one week later.

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    Miriam Cross

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  • Figure-affiliated SPAC plans to merge with mortgage bank

    Figure-affiliated SPAC plans to merge with mortgage bank

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    A blank check company affiliated with fintech Figure Technologies has signed a non-binding letter of intent to merge with a warehouse lender and bank holding company, aiming to bring its blockchain technology to the acquired financial institution.

    The deal would combine Figure Acquisition Corp 1, founded by the management team of Figure Technologies, with an undisclosed, $3 billion- to $5-billion-asset holding company that provides home loans across the country. The special purpose acquisition company would take the bank public and allow it to leverage Figure’s technology, potentially introducing a system of originating loans as fully digital assets that can be traded in real-time as digital tokens.

    “We believe the proposed transaction provides a unique value creation opportunity by combining the bank’s sound balance sheet, nationwide footprint and seasoned management team with our team’s deep understanding of, and experience with, the application of technology to regulated financial services businesses as well as the necessary capital to grow and execute against our shared vision of the future of banking,” said Michael Cagney, chairman of the SPAC and CEO of Figure Technologies, in a prepared statement. 

    Michael Cagney, pictured here in 2016, co-founded SoFi, Figure Technologies, Provenance Blockchain and now also leads Figure-affiliated SPAC.

    David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

    The deal is still subject to the completion of due diligence and negotiation of a definitive agreement, and the SPAC has also asked for stockholder approval of a six-month extension to complete its initial business combination, which would push the deadline to Aug. 23. It raised $287 million with its launch and has been searching since early 2021 for a financial institution to take public.

    Meanwhile Figure Technologies, founded in 2018 by Cagney, has been seeking a national bank charter. Figure Technologies originally applied with the OCC in 2020 for a specialized bank charter that didn’t require deposit insurance, but amended its application to include deposit insurance after a lawsuit from state regulators delayed the process. In June, Figure Technologies terminated its previously-announced merger agreement with non-bank mortgage lender Homebridge Financial. 

    Figure Technologies offers mortgage refinancing, home equity lines of credit and an equity management platform that allows private companies to raise, manage, and trade equity using Provenance Blockchain, an open-source digital ledger also developed by Cagney in 2020, for loan origination, servicing, financing and private fund services. The fintech has recently partnered with investment firm titans Apollo Global Management and Hamilton Lane to launch new funds using Provenance, which has supported more than $12 billion in transactions, according to Figure.

    Figure also developed Digital Asset Registration Technologies, a blockchain-based lien and eNote registry that allows lenders to originate and trade loans as digital tokens on Provenance. Cagney said the SPAC deal could allow the bank to use DART for its warehouse business.

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    Catherine Leffert

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