About 100 people gathered on Feb. 12 to inaugurate the newest bank to enter Orange County—Citizens Private Bank.
“It’s taken years to have this all come to fruition, and it’s an absolute dream come true,” Victor Mena, the bank’s executive market director and a long-time banker in Orange County, told the audience.
“What’s really special about this is we bring a really small community bank feel to Newport Beach with the strength and security of a large bank.”
Citizens Private Bank, a unit of Providence, Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank, is the latest national bank to see an opportunity to crack the fierce Orange County banking industry.
Flagstar Bank, which is based in New York, is aiming to double its headcount here. WaFd Bank recently announced OC banking veteran Timothy Chelf has joined the Seattle-based bank as its regional president of California. Customers Bank, which has $24 billion in assets and is based in West Reading, Pennsylvania, in December announced its new office in Irvine’s Park Plaza with a party that attracted about 70.
The reasons for the increased interest in Orange County are two-fold, the bankers said.
The 2023 collapse of First Republic Bank, Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank has made available the business they used to handle, as well as talented local bankers. In 2022, the first two banks controlled about $5 billion in deposits in Orange County and employed almost 200, according to the Business Journal’s annual list of commercial banks.
Judi Prejean joined Customers Bank, bringing along about a dozen who had worked with her at Signature Bank, where she was a top West Coast official, including Orange County.
Another reason is consolidation. Denver-based FirstSun Capital is acquiring First Foundation while Washington-based Columbia Bank last year completed its purchase of Pacific Premier Bank, which was formerly the biggest bank in Orange County.
“We will continue to grow in Orange County, I promise you,” FirstSun CEO Neal Arnold told the Business Journal in November. “We will be adding to a number of different sales functions.”
The entrance of major banks into Orange County has set off a scramble to find talented bankers.
“There are a limited number of experienced bankers around town,” Ash Patel, chairman and chief executive of Irvine-based Commercial Bank of California, told the Business Journal. “It’s very hard to find good quality talent. Our biggest challenge is finding talent and retaining them.”
The Business Journal’s annual special report on banks with operations in Orange County begins on page 17.
What follows are comments from seven bankers to the Business Journal about the OC economy and banking trends.
Victor Mena
Executive Market Director
Citizens Private Bank
Three years ago, Citizens Bank didn’t have a dedicated private bank unit to serve the needs of wealthy business executives for loans and wealth management.
When banks like First Republic Bank failed in 2023, Citizens Bank saw an opportunity in Orange County, according to Victor Mena.
“Citizens Private Bank was launched in 2023 in the wake of bank failures,” said Mena, who worked for 28 years at Republic Bank, including almost a decade in Newport Beach.
The bank’s top executives “realized an opportunity to be able to fill white space that was created by the banks that failed.”
Citizens Bank has $178 billion deposits nowadays, including about $14 billion at its private bank unit.
The private bank has hired two long-time bankers from First Republic Bank, Brian Yamamoto and Paula Soto David.
“We’re in the process of building something spectacular and filling the niche of the three institutions that are no longer here.”
Jarrod Ingle
Regional President
PNC Bank
A reason that East Coast banks are moving here is that California has been “underbanked” for the past three decades, according to Jarrod Ingle, a long-time Orange County banker who Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank tapped in 2021 as its regional president.
In PNC’s first years here, Ingle said he was on the hunt for talented bankers.
Nowadays, Ingle oversees 250 employees in OC as well as the Inland Empire. He said PNC has fully built out its lines of business.
“It’s not like the rapid pace of four years ago,” Ingle said. “We value stability. We don’t like to run through bankers.”
Locally, PNC is seeing growth in its markets for corporate banking, emerging middle markets and wealth management, he said.
Orange County’s economy contains some uncertainty, Ingle said.
“It’s a tale of multiple stories. The economy is still growing but not at a fast pace in Orange County,” he said.
“There is still growth, but it’s soft growth. There’s some cautious optimism in where things are going.”
While the hospitality sector is still strong and there is good employment growth in healthcare and the government, the sectors of housing and transportation industries are struggling while manufacturing is flat, he said.
Orange County, he noted, is in a mature phase of the economic cycle—and is no longer accelerating.
“Overall, we’re late in the game in terms of the traditional economy,” Ingle said. “The economy has (had) a nice run for some time. We’re not going to have rampant growth.”
Ivan Kokos
VP
Commercial Lending Relationship Manager
Tri Counties Bank
Ivan Kokos worked at Bank of the West when it was acquired by BMO Financial Group in 2023. He decided to seek a job elsewhere, landing at Tri Counties Bank, a Chico-based bank with almost $10 billion in assets.
“It’s easier to get things done here,” Kokos said. “I like the fact that as a traditional C&I banker, I can also do real estate investment.”
The Northern California bank about five years ago decided to expand in Southern California. Its Irvine office, where Kokos works, has about six employees. If a good banker becomes available, the bank may consider hiring, he said.
It targets loans of $3 million to $7 million to companies with $10 million to $100 million in annual revenue.
About the Orange County economy, he said: “I’m seeing a lot of people stay put, a lot of uncertainty.”
Sean Foley
President
Orange County/Inland Empire
Banc of California
Sean Foley says he welcomes the entrance of major banks into Orange County.
“Every time we see companies moving in, it validates that Orange County is a place we want to be,” Foley told the Business Journal in an email.
“We have been serving Orange County for 85 years, so we know this market better than anyone. Each banker on our team has deep roots here and that’s something we look for when hiring. We want bankers who have been living and working here for decades because they understand the unique opportunities in this market.”
Orange County is one of the largest markets for Banc of California, which is the third-largest bank in California. It is ranked No. 17 on the Business Journal’s list of banks operating in OC with OC deposits of $1.7 billion (see list, page 29).
Although the bank has “seen some mixed economic data since the start of the year,” it still has a strong mix of businesses across established and emerging sectors.
Orange County still drives high-wage jobs and has a great mix of businesses in both established and emerging sectors, he said.
“There is strong momentum from the companies here,” he said.
Joseph Otting
Executive Chairman/CEO
Flagstar Bank
Flagstar Bank, which has $87.5 billion in assets, has its sights set on Orange County as a growth market, according to CEO Joseph Otting.
“We can see ourselves doubling” the headcount in Orange County, Otting told the Business Journal.
“We’d like to get bigger. We’ve been adding commercial banking. We feel there’s a gap today that we’d like to fulfil.”
The bank, which is headquartered in Hicksville, New York, currently has 42 employees in Orange County with $198 million in deposits as of June 30, 2025, up 19% from the prior year.
Otting, who took over as CEO in 2024, has extensive experience in Southern California banking, having served as CEO of OneWest Bank and as group head of commercial banking at Union Bank of California.
“The one thing about Orange County is the vibrancy of the Orange County marketplace. It always has strong economic conditions,” Otting said.
“Orange County has a lot of great stories about people who have built fabulous companies.”
Nationally, he’s hired about 340 employees for its commercial banking practice, many of whom were in Southern California, including at Union Bank, which was acquired by U.S. Bank in 2022.
“When mergers happen, a lot of things happen like someone didn’t get the job they thought they deserved,” Otting said.
“Generally, what relationship managers are looking to do is take care of their customers. That’s where we’ve been able to shine.”
It aims to become a strong customer bank, a mantle he said was held by First Republic before it imploded. Flagstar is targeting middle-market companies with annual sales of $50 million to $1 billion. Its loans are typically in the $25 million range.
While smaller banks have credit limits, Flagstar can underwrite large sums of credit into the billions and join other banks for loan syndicates if needed, Otting said.
“Our edge is big enough to do whatever credit opportunities you want and have products and services to function in a successful manner.
“We’re big enough to do whatever is needed, but small enough for small businesses.”
Allen Staff
President
Bank of America Orange County
Allen Staff, who grew up in Irvine and has worked for Bank of America for decades, noted that the bank has served Orange County for over 100 years.
“We’re excited for the business outlook ahead this year,” he told the Business Journal. “Our clients in the health- and medical-related industries, tech and defense contractors in particular, continue to grow, and demand for capital with our commercial business client base has been growing year over year. These are all optimistic signs early in the year.”
Orange County also continues to see exciting wealth growth overall, not just for businesses but with households as well, which is driving mortgage loans and HELOCs as well as commercial real estate business, he said.
“Our OC clients are also financially savvy; they’re reinvesting back into their business operations and investing into talent recruitment and retention as well.”
Ash Patel
Chairman/CEO
Commercial Bank of California
A big reason for the rush of other banks into Orange County is that the local economy “is robust” and hasn’t been affected by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic, according to Ash Patel.
“In the last five years, there has been lots of success and a lack of failure here,” Patel said. “There are no other banks that are failing.
“There’s a keen interest in coming to this market.”
He said employment in Orange County is in good shape with growth in sectors like hospitality, medical and commercial and industrial.
“Orange County’s economy remains in good shape,” Patel said.
—Peter J. Brennan
