N.Y. bank merger delayed due to slow reg approval

Another bank merger is facing a delay tied to pending regulatory approval. 

Executives at Community Bank System in DeWitt, N.Y., said during a conference call to discuss quarterly earnings that they expect the acquisition of Elmira Savings Bank to close in May. The companies originally forecast a first-quarter completion. 

The revised guidance resulting from “the progress and the dialogue with regulators," Mark Tryniski, Community Bank System’s president and CEO, said during the conference call. 

"There's nothing of note or concern,” Tryniski added. “I think it's just right now with the administration and pending appointments of some of the agency leadership and, I'll call it, the interest of all the regulatory agencies on every single transaction, even those who have a, let's call it, tangential involvement, it's a lot more complicated." 

The $15.6 billion-asset Community Bank System agreed to buy the $649 million-asset Elmira in October for $83 million. 

New York Community Bancorp pushed back its planned closing date for buying Flagstar Bancorp. The proposed merger of Blue Ridge Bankshares and FVCBankcorp in Virginia was delayed – then terminated – after the deal hit a snag with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.