In a rare occurrence of a fintech company receiving regulatory approval to acquire a bank, SmartBiz Loans completed its acquisition of United Community Bancshares and its subsidiary Centrust Bank. The transaction received regulatory approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Bank. The combined company, renamed SmartBiz Bank, will operate under the bank holding company, SmartBiz Bancshares.
SmartBiz is a small business loan service provider that operates an online platform connecting small businesses with lenders. SmartBiz has helped deliver more than $9 billion in small business loans since its founding and is the largest facilitator of SBA loans in amounts below $350,000. SmartBiz Bank will carry on the operations of SmartBiz post-merger.
The S&C team representing SmartBiz included Jared Fishman and Leanne Van Allen. Sarah Remmer Long, Joyce Lee and Rebecca Rabinowitz advised on executive compensation and benefits matters. Jameson Lloyd and Stephen Profeta advised on tax matters. Rachel Yu and KJ Lim advised on intellectual property matters.