Federal regulators are expected to grant initial approval this week for a new Irvine-based business bank being started by a group of Orange County executives.
Officials with eComm National Bank said they submitted an application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in July and aim to begin operations next year.
Robert Regan, former chief executive at Dana Niguel Bank, is heading eComm National Bank. Other backers listed on the application include Russ Wertz, senior partner of Irvine accounting firm Corbin & Wertz, Tim McMahon, a senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis, and Linda Vandercook, founder and chief executive of Keystone Pacific Property Management.
The bank will be set up to cater to small businesses, Wertz said.
He said that many of his firm’s clients are entrepreneurs or those running small businesses, and they generally do not fit well into a larger bank.
“There are a lot of companies that are good quality companies, but they don’t need the credits the big banks are looking for,” Wertz said.
EComm is the latest in a string of recent bank start-ups in Orange County that also includes Pacific Mercantile Bank, Orange Community Bank, South County Bank and Pacific Liberty Bank. There are also six to 10 other banks in organization in the county, and some of the larger banks like Sanwa Bank California and First Republic Bank have opened new branches within the county.
Ken Hansen, the bank’s president, said the bank is looking for a location near Jamboree Road and Main Street. (Hansen, meanwhile, is running for the Irvine City Council.)
In January, the bank is planning to begin selling $15 million to $18 million worth of stock, much more than typically is raised by a startup bank.
“You can never can have too much capital,” Hansen said.
The bank is planning to invest heavily in technology, something that Pacific Mercantile in Newport Beach also did. Pacific Mercantile has turned a profit within 18 months of starting up, an unusually short period for a bank.
“We will have Internet banking from the get-go,” Hansen said.
Regan and Hansen began organizing the bank early this year, contacting friends and business associates to assemble about 20 founders for the application. n
