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Banking and Financial Services

Overview

Nutter’s financial and banking attorneys serve as corporate and regulatory counsel to banks, savings institutions, and other financial institutions, and we address a wide range of banking clients' needs, including new bank formations, mergers and acquisitions, holding company formations, conversions, interstate expansion, the introduction of new products and services, including securities, insurance and trust services, and electronic banking.

Our clients
Our clients include the full range of financial institutions, such as commercial banks and bank holding companies, thrift institutions and thrift holding companies, trust companies, insurance companies and agencies, equipment leasing companies, non-bank subsidiaries, and real estate investment trusts.

Our practice

  • Corporate and regulatory matters
  • Mergers, acquisitions, and public and private sales of equity and debt securities for various types of banking and insurance companies, including trust-preferred securities
  • Organization of de novo banks
  • New structures, including mutual holding companies and conversions of mutual banks
  • New products and services, including insurance, investment products, trust services, collective investment and common trust funds
  • Corporate and regulatory advice

Executive compensation

  • Design and administer equity-based compensation programs on a company-wide and individual basis
  • Structure compensation programs on a tax-efficient basis, balancing performance and reward
  • Advise and counsel on compensation arrangements, including incentive and nonqualified stock option plans, and profit interests in partnerships and limited liability companies
  • Develop ways to reduce high-net-worth individuals' future estate taxes attributable to compensation-related asset 
  • Employment agreements
  • SERPs

One of the largest percentages of Nutter’s work comes from banks and institutional lenders, with clients that span national and global financial institutions, financial services firms, insurance companies, equipment lessors and major commercial borrowers, to regional and local community banks.

The expertise tapped by clients in this segment of our business includes regulatory, transactional, securities, M&A, workout and restructurings, litigation, employment and executive compensation, public policy and tax matters, with many clients turning to us for a multidisciplinary service mix.

Nutter has handled more than $8 billion in real estate lending transactions and more than 1,000 equipment financing deals worth more than $3 billion in the last decade. The firm’s commercial finance team has been chosen by lenders, equipment lessors, and borrowers to handle literally thousands of transactions involving collateral in 46 states and abroad. We are currently counsel of choice for more than half of the top 10 commercial banks in the United States for one form of commercial finance or another, as well as many of the region’s most reputable life insurance companies, pension funds and commercial borrowers. One of those banks has sought our assistance in more than 100 commercial finance transactions in recent years, and continues to send its deals to Nutter.

Nutter’s community banking practice has emerged as a market leader in New England, having represented more than 70 banks and thrift institutions in corporate and regulatory matters in the past few years. The firm has placed among the top 20 firms nationally in merger and acquisition work for banks, according to the M&A Annual published by the American Banker.

Whether global or local, the banking industry has been through tumultuous times in recent years, and the firm has worked with clients across the spectrum to endure the challenges, navigate regulatory changes, and continuously seek opportunities to improve business, whether through acquisition, conversion, sale of equity or debt securities, the creation of new products and services, restructuring, or other initiatives.

View Practice Team

Representative Matters

Representative Matters

  • Eastern Bankshares, Inc.

    Nutter served as legal counsel to Eastern Bank Corporation, the mutual holding company of Eastern Bank, in its conversion to a fully public stock holding company known as Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select Market: EBC).

  • PeoplesBancorp, MHC

    Nutter represented PeoplesBancorp, MHC, a Massachusetts mutual holding company, and the bank holding company of PeoplesBank, a Massachusetts-chartered savings bank, both of Holyoke, Massachusetts, in connection with its acquisition of First Suffield Financial, Inc., a Connecticut corporation and the bank holding company of The First National Bank of Suffield, a national bank, both of Suffield, Connecticut. The total value of the transaction was approximately $60 million.

  • MNB Bancorp

    Nutter advised MNB Bancorp, the parent company of The Milford National Bank and Trust Company, a national bank, both of Milford, Massachusetts, in its acquisition by Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ Global Select Market: INDB). Independent is the parent company of Rockland Trust Company. The total value of the transaction was approximately $54 million.

  • Hometown Financial Group Inc.

    Nutter represented Hometown Financial Group, Inc., the bank holding company of bankESB (Easthampton, MA) and bankHometown (Oxford, MA), in connection with its acquisition of Pilgrim Bank, a Massachusetts-chartered co-operative bank headquartered in Cohasset, MA, and its bank holding company, Pilgrim Bancshares, Inc. (OTCMKTS: PLRM).

  • Coastal Heritage Bank

    Nutter represented South Shore Mutual Holding Company, the mutual holding company for Coastal Heritage Bank, a $517.1 million-asset community bank headquartered in Weymouth, MA, in its merger with Equitable Bancorp, MHC, the mutual holding company for Equitable Bank, a $332.9 million asset community bank headquartered in East Weymouth, MA.

  • Adams Community Bank

    Nutter advised Adams Community Bank, a mutual savings bank based in Adams, MA, in its acquisition of The Lenox National Bank, a national bank located in Lenox, MA. 

  • Bank of New Hampshire

    Nutter advised Bank of New Hampshire and its parent BNH Financial, a mutual holding company, in their acquisition of Community Guaranty Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary Community Guaranty Savings Bank, a New Hampshire guaranty savings bank. The combined entity has approximately $1.4 billion in assets and 23 branch offices throughout New Hampshire.

  • Banks (all charter types)

    23 mergers and acquisitions (all transaction structures) since 2004

  • Centrix Bank & Trust

    Nutter advised Centrix Bank & Trust, based in Bedford, NH, in connection with its acquisition by Eastern Bank Corporation in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $134 million.

  • Commerce Bancshares Corp.

    Nutter represented Commerce Bancshares Corp. and its subsidiary, Commerce Bank & Trust Company, in its merger with Berkshire Hills Bancorp. Inc. (NYSE: BHLB), in an all-stock transaction valued at $209 million.

  • Connecticut River Bancorp, Inc.

    Nutter represented Connecticut River Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQB: CORB) and its subsidiary, Connecticut River Bank, N.A., a national bank, both of Charlestown, NH, in its merger with Mascoma Mutual Financial Services Corporation and its subsidiary, Mascoma Savings Bank, in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.7 million.

  • ESB Bancorp, MHC

    Nutter represented ESB Bancorp, MHC in its merger with Hometown Community Bancorp, MHC.

  • Fidelity Bank

    Nutter represented Fidelity Bank in its merger with Barre Savings Bank.

  • First Commons Bank, N.A.

    Nutter advised First Commons Bank, N.A., in its merger with Brookline Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRKL). The total value of the transaction was approximately $55.958 million. 

  • Granite Savings Bank

    Nutter advised Granite Savings Bank, a mutual savings bank based in Rockport, MA, in its merger with Cape Ann Savings Bank, a mutual savings bank based in Gloucester, MA.

  • Greenfield Cooperative Bank

    Nutter advised Greenfield Cooperative Bank, a co-operative bank based in Greenfield, MA, in its merger with The Northampton Cooperative Bank, a mutual co-operative bank based in Northampton, MA.

  • Institution for Savings

    Nutter advised Institution for Savings in Newburyport and its Vicinity, a Massachusetts-chartered mutual savings bank, in its acquisition of Rockport National Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQB: RPOR) and its wholly-owned subsidiary Rockport National Bank, a national bank, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $28.3 million.

  • Liberty Bay Credit Union

    Nutter represented Liberty Bay Credit Union in its merger with Hingham Federal Credit Union.

  • Massachusetts banks

    12 mutual holding company reorganizations since 2003

  • Meetinghouse Bancorp, Inc.

    Nutter represented Meetinghouse Bancorp, Inc. (OTC Pink: MTGB), the holding company for Meetinghouse Bank, in its merger with Meridian Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBSB), the holding company for East Boston Savings Bank, in a transaction valued at approximately $17.8 million.

  • North Brookfield Savings Bank

    Nutter advised North Brookfield Savings Bank, a Massachusetts-chartered savings bank, in its merger with FamilyFirst Bank, a Massachusetts-chartered co-operative bank.

  • North Middlesex Savings Bank

    Nutter represented North Middlesex Savings Bank in its merger with Marlborough Savings Bank.

  • North Shore Bank

    Nutter represented North Shore Bank in its merger with Merrimac Savings Bank.

  • Northeast Retirement Services, Inc.

    Nutter advised Northeast Retirement Services, Inc., a leading provider of plan accounting, transfer agency, fund administration, trust and retirement plan services, in its acquisition by Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU), a transaction valued at approximately $146 million.

  • Out-of-state licensed lenders

    Counsel on regulatory matters in Massachusetts, four lenders, past 5 years

  • Agilyx

    Nutter served as legal counsel to Agilyx Corporation and its parent company Agilyx AS (Euronext Growth Oslo: AGLX), a leader in advanced recycling of post-use plastics, in its joint venture with ExxonMobil Chemical Corporation (NYSE: XOM), the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, to form Cyclyx International, LLC. 

  • Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P.

    Nutter served as counsel to Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P., the marketing agent for Provident Bancorp, Inc., in connection with its conversion from the mutual holding company to the stock holding company form of organization and its related stock offering.

  • Centreville Bank

    Nutter served as sole outside legal counsel to Centreville Bank in connection with its agreement to acquire Putnam Bank and its holding company, PB Bancorp, Inc., in a transaction valued at approximately $115.5 million.

  • Wealth management group

    Nutter represented a wealth management group in pursuing non-compete and non-solicitation claims against a Fortune 100 company and three former employees. We obtained a favorable pre-litigation settlement.

  • Leader Bank, N.A. and Leader Bancorp, Inc.

    Nutter served as sole outside legal counsel to Leader Bank, N.A. and its parent company Leader Bancorp, Inc. in connection with the recent spin-out of ZSuite Technologies.

  • Fidelity Bank

    Nutter represented Fidelity Bank in its merger with Family Federal Savings, F.A.

  • North Shore Bank

    Nutter advised North Shore Bank in its merger with Beverly Bank.

  • Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. and U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc.

    Nutter represented Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. and U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc., the placement agents for Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ: INDB), the bank holding company of Rockland Trust Company, in connection with Independent’s private placement of $50 million of fixed-to-floating rate subordinated notes due 2029.

  • Group RHI

    Nutter represented Group RHI, a rapidly growing player in the retirement services industry, in its acquisition of Pension Studio, a third party retirement plan administrator with offices in Florida and New England.

  • Group RHI

    Nutter represented Group RHI, a rapidly growing player in the retirement services industry, in its acquisition of Billings and Company, LLC, an Iowa-based recordkeeping and qualified plan administration company.

  • Group RHI

    Nutter represented Group RHI, a rapidly growing player in the retirement services industry, in its acquisition of America’s 401k, LLC, a Dallas, TX-based, independent third party administrator focused on serving small businesses in offering qualified retirement plans to their employees, and Retirement Investment Administrators, LLC, a recordkeeping and qualified plan administration company also based in Dallas, TX.

  • PeoplesBancorp, MHC

    Nutter represented PeoplesBancorp, MHC, the holding company for PeoplesBank, in the private placement of $40 million in fixed-to-floating rate subordinated notes due 2028.

  • BankFive, MHC

    Nutter represented BankFive, MHC , the parent company of Fall River-based BankFive, in the private placement of $25 million in fixed-to-floating rate subordinated notes due 2031.

  • Definiti

    Nutter served as legal counsel to Definiti, a private equity-backed, national leader in the retirement services industry, in connection with its acquisition of Wisconsin-based National Administration, Inc (NAI).

  • Definiti LLC

    Nutter served as legal counsel to Definiti LLC, a private equity-backed, national leader in the retirement services industry, in connection with its acquisition of Boetger Retirement Plan Services, LLC, a full-service design, recordkeeping, administration, and consulting firm specializing in administration of qualified retirement plan programs based in Pennsylvania.

  • Definiti LLC

    Nutter served as legal counsel to Definiti LLC, a private equity-backed, national leader in the retirement services industry, in connection with its acquisition of Capital Retirement Plan Services, LLC.

  • Definiti LLC

    Nutter served as legal counsel to Definiti LLC, a private equity-backed, national leader in the retirement services industry, in connection with its acquisition of Dana Consulting Group, Ltd. and Noble-Davis Consulting, Inc., two firms in the Great Lakes Region.

  • Eastern Bankshares, Inc.

    Nutter served as legal counsel to Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (Nasdaq Global Select Market: EBC), the stock holding company for Eastern Bank, in connection with its acquisition of Century Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNBKA), the stock holding company for Century Bank and Trust Company, in a transaction valued at approximately $642 million.

  • Eastern Bankshares, Inc.

    Nutter is serving as legal counsel to Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select Market: EBC), the stock holding company for Eastern Bank, in connection with its definitive merger agreement with Cambridge Bancorp (NASDAQ: CATC), the parent company of Cambridge Trust Company, pursuant to which Cambridge will merge with and into Eastern in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $528 million. Simultaneously, Nutter is also representing Eastern Insurance Group, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eastern, in its definitive agreement to sell its insurance operations to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG) for approximately $510 million in cash.

  • Fidelity Bank

    Nutter represented Fidelity Bank in its merger with Colonial Co-operative Bank.

  • Fidelity Bank

    Nutter successfully obtained a settlement on behalf of its client Fidelity Bank in connection with a multi-district litigation class action relating to the TelexFree international Ponzi scheme. The Court approved the $22.5 million settlement and entered judgment dismissing the claims with prejudice. The legal team was led by Ian Roffman, chair of Nutter’s Securities Enforcement and Litigation practice, and included Joe Toomey, Ken Ehrlich, and Tom Curry.

  • Fidelity Bank

    Nutter is serving as legal counsel to Fidelity Bank in connection with its agreement with Cape Cod 5 to merge their respective mutual holding companies under one multi-bank holding company, Mutual Bancorp, subject to regulatory approval.

  • Liability Insurance Coverage for Class Action Lawsuit

    Nutter represented a major financial institution in successful negotiations with multiple excess insurance carriers of full coverage for 8-figure class action settlement and litigation defense costs.  

  • Nationally Recognized Investment Bank

    Nutter represented a nationally recognized investment bank acting as placement agent for a $20 million offering of subordinated debt in July 2021 by a bank holding company in New England.

  • North Shore Bank

    Nutter is serving as legal counsel to North Shore Bancorp, the holding company for North Shore Bank, in connection with its agreement to combine with Hometown Financial Group, Inc., the holding company for bankESB, bankHometown, and Abington Bank.

  • Retail Firm Investigations

    Nutter represented registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, and investors in many investigations by the SEC and state regulators involving a full range of regulatory issues, including registration, conflict of interest disclosure and supervision, resulting in settlements or no charges filed. 

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