The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency terminated its risk management-related enforcement action against Stamford, Conn.-based Patriot Bank Tuesday after roughly 18 months.
The regulator cited Patriot in January 2025 over financial losses and regulatory deficiencies, including “unsafe or unsound practices.”
Patriot’s issues were related to strategic planning, capital planning, Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering risk management, payment activities oversight, credit administration and concentrations risk management. Under the agreement, the bank was required to create a compliance committee, which then had to submit quarterly reports on the bank’s progress in adhering to the agreement.
With the enforcement action behind them, Patriot’s team can now focus on serving high-net-worth families, wrote Patriot President and CEO Steven Sugarman in a letter to shareholders Thursday.
Expenses related to the agreement have totaled over $5 million, he wrote, and he expects the bank’s new regulatory status to cut down on regulatory and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. fees.
The bank will continue to focus on growing its high-net-worth deposit franchise and growing its loan portfolio, Sugarman wrote. Both strategies have already borne fruit in 2026, as the bank’s total assets have grown from $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion, and new loan originations are exceeding $40 million monthly, he wrote.
Patriot’s growth has spurred management to actively consider opportunities to unlock other capital, such as through selling non-core assets, Sugarman wrote.
Sugarman, who founded Banc of California in 2010, joined Patriot as president weeks before its OCC penalty. He was hired to lead the company’s restructuring efforts shortly after the company announced it was embarking on a strategic review.
He became Patriot’s highest-ranking executive three months later when its CEO of two years, David Lowery, stepped down.
An OCC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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