Arnold & Porter Advises Piermont Bank in Formation of New Bank

Arnold & Porter advised Piermont Bank and its sponsor entity, Ivy Financial Development, LLC, in the formation and initial capitalization of Piermont Bank as a New York State-chartered, FDIC-insured, commercial bank.

Piermont Bank is the first independent de novo FDIC-insured bank charter issued by the NY Department of Financial Services in more than a decade. As part of the formation of Piermont Bank, Arnold & Porter assisted Piermont with a private placement of its common stock and the exchange of common stock for the outstanding membership interests in the sponsor entity, Ivy Financial, which was ultimately merged into Piermont Bank.

Arnold & Porter also advised on every aspect of the regulatory process with the NY Department of Financial Services and the FDIC, as well as all corporate governance work, including preparation of the charter, bylaws, and all organizational resolutions for Piermont Bank. The capitalization transactions closed on June 25, 2019.

"It is great to have a partner like Arnold & Porter that shares the same philosophy of doing the right thing for the client. It has been a decade since New York State has chartered a de novo bank and having a legal counsel who is knowledgeable about the banking industry and bank regulation is very helpful throughout our de novo chartering process," says Wendy Cai-Lee, President & CEO of Piermont Bank.

The Arnold & Porter team included Financial Institutions Mergers and Acquisitions practice head Robert Azarow, partner Michael Mancusi, counsel Stephanie Nygard, and associates Naomi Hartman, Megan Melbourne, and Anthony Raglani.