Black Enterprise Two Black banks have merged to become the first Black-led bank in America with over $1 billion in assets, giving them greater scale to finance housing and entrepreneurship in urban areas.
Los Angeles-based Broadway Federal Bank will combine with Washington, D.C.-based City First Bank, establishing the country’s largest Black-controlled bank. The combined entity will have about $850 million in deposits.
Brian E. Argrett, chief executive of City First, will be CEO of the combined company. Wayne-Kent A. Bradshaw, Broadway’s CEO, will be chairman of the new entity’s nine-member board. City First board chair Marie C. Johns, former deputy administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration under former President Barack Obama, was appointed lead independent director.
“The combination will allow our collective institution to focus its lending capacity in three key areas: multifamily housing, small-business finance, and nonprofit finance,” which can help low- and moderate-income areas, Argrett told Bloomberg. “If you are providing financing for a small business, you are enabling wealth creation, job creation, and economic empowerment through that financing. There’s a multiplier.”Read More…