Proposed Ohio De Novo Nears Finish Line

Ilaria Rawlins discussed Fortuna Bank's plans to become a women-owned bank and how organizers (and the FDIC) handled last spring's liquidity panic.

Happy Monday, Bank Slaters!

I made it back from vacation rested and ready to tackle two months of conference travel, beginning with ICBA Live later this week. Who else is going to be there?

I didn’t want to leave you high and dry while I was away so I made sure to share my interview with Ilaria Rawlins, who is set to become CEO of the proposed Fortuna Bank in Grandview Heights, Ohio. Fortuna recently received FDIC conditional approval — ending a six-month pause in such approvals. Her group is about 60% of the way towards raising the required $20 million in capital needed to open.

Fortuna will be a women-owned bank. It has pursued a wider swath of investors than the typical de novo, lowering its minimum investment to $10,000. Organizers, if successful, would open the fifth de novo in the Columbus, Ohio, market in the past six years.

Here’s an abridged version of our conversation. The rest of our discussion will be available via Substack and Spotify in the coming days.