First Citizens Bank is expanding its Middle Market Banking group in the Northeast to supplement its existing operations in other U.S. regions.
The Raleigh-based bank launched the middle-market unit in 2022 and is building the business to target companies with annual revenue of $75 million to $1 billion. It’s a relatively new approach by the bank, which has historically focused on its core Southeast region as the nation’s largest family owned bank.
First Citizens bought New York-based CIT Group in October 2020 for $2.2 billion, adding a substantial national commercial lending presence and doubling its assets to about $100 billion. Much of CIT’s commercial banking business was in the Northeast; that has now become part of First Citizens, a spokeswoman says.
Meanwhile, CIT’s middle-market banking business was in California, Nebraska and Texas, which are now part of an expanding First Citizens unit, she says.
In 2023, the company took part in a government-assisted rescue of failed Silicon Valley Bancshares, adding more than $100 billion in assets in the second-largest U.S. banking failure. Overall, the company’s assets have quadrupled since 2020 to the $220 billion range as of June 30, and First Citizens now ranks among the 15 largest U.S. banks.
Earlier this year, First Citizens hired Northeast Market Executive Nate Pusey and Managing Director John Tyson to lead its Boston middle-market banking office, while the New York office added Managing Director Marc Einerman. They previously worked at City National Bank. It has added other managers more recently.
“We’re pleased to expand our Middle Market Banking business to support clients in the Northeast,” Brendan Chambers, who leads First Citizens Middle Market Banking, said in a release.
The bank’s middle-market banking offerings include senior secured and cash-flow loans, capital markets services, foreign exchange capabilities, asset-based lending and treasury and payment services.
First Citizens doesn’t operate any bank branches north of Maryland, while its Silicon Valley Bank unit has three offices in the Boston area. The bank has 275 offices in North Carolina and 140 in South Carolina.
