New York investment fund One Main Street has agreed to buy Liberty Bank, a small community lender in Salt Lake City.
The sale is subject to regulatory approval, the investment fund announced Tuesday. Terms weren't revealed.
One Main Street, formed in late 2009, is led by Richard Uhlig, former chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley Bank, the principal banking subsidiary of financial services giant Morgan Stanley.
Other principals in the investment fund include Scott Bowen, former chief financial officer of Deutsche Bank Americas; Daniel Garcia a former senior portfolio manager at Merrill Lynch Bank USA; and Paul Jacobson, a former partner at Goldman Sachs.
Liberty Bank, at 326 S. 500 East, was founded by Chairman Ray Phillips in 1956.
Phillips and One Main Street representatives were unavailable for comment.
The bank had assets of $17.9 million and deposits of $12.6 million at the end of last year. It lost $1.3 million in its fourth quarter ending Dec. 31.
The bank had a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 11 percent. Banks with capital-to-total asset ratios of at least 6 percent are considered to be well capitalized.
"We see that many banks, large and small, have lost their way and remain singularly focused on short-term profits. It's no mystery why Americans have such little faith in their financial institutions," Uhlig said in a statement.
By contrast, One Main Street will "stick to the basics" of community banking, he said.
One Main Street also said it has asked the Federal Reserve for permission to become a bank holding company.
The investment fund said it intends to build a network of banks in the Intermountain West by buying failed and distressed banks from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
