BREAKING NEWS: Utah’s Sunwest Bank Acquires Failed California Bank and Adds $605 Million in New Deposits

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

✅ Sandy, Utah-based Sunwest Bank has acquired substantially all of the deposits and a portion of the assets of failed Irvine, California-based Nano Banc, assuming approximately $605 million of deposits and $227 million of loans.

✅ The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation says Sunwest is purchasing ~$476 million of Nano Banc’s assets, while the FDIC will retain ~ $260 million for later disposition.

✅ The transaction marks Sunwest’s second acquisition in roughly 60 days; as a result, Sunwest has added nearly $1 billion in new deposits in ~two months.

SANDY, Utah and IRVINE, California — 29 September 2026 — Utah-based Sunwest Bank has acquired substantially all of the deposits and a portion of the assets of failed California lender Nano Banc, adding ~$605 million of deposits in the Sandy-based bank’s sixth acquisition of a failed financial institution through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation closed Irvine-based Nano Banc on Friday, 25 September 2026, citing
🔴  A deteriorating financial condition, and
🔴  Executive mismanagement and regulatory violations.

After closing Nano Banc, the CDFPI appointed the FDIC as receiver.

The FDIC then entered into a purchase-and-assumption agreement with Sunwest, which was announced on September 25th as well.

In that release, the FDIC noted that as of 30 June 2026, Nano Banc reported ~$736 million of assets and $686 million of deposits.

However, by the time regulators closed the bank this past Friday (nearly three months later), Sunwest Bank says it assumed ~$605 million of deposits and $227 million of loans.

Separately, the FDIC says Sunwest is purchasing ~$476 million of Nano Banc’s assets, meaning the assumed loans represent only part of the assets acquired.

Accordingly, the FDIC will retain ~$260 million of Nano Banc assets for later disposition and preliminarily estimates the failure will cost its Deposit Insurance Fund ~$114 million.

The former Nano Banc operation reopened yesterday (Monday, 28 September 2026) as a Sunwest Bank branch.

Sunwest's Expansion Path of Late

For Sunwest, last Friday's transaction comes amid a broader period of expansion.

On 29 July 2026, Sunwest announced it had completed its acquisition of the former Denver-area banking operations of MidWestOne Financial Group and Bank of Denver from Nicolet National Bank.

Those operations carried ~$402 million of loans and $388 million of deposits as of June 30th.

That acquisition also makes Sunwest’s own 30 June 2026 balance sheet an outdated benchmark for measuring the relative size of the Nano Banc transaction.

Specifically, at midyear 2026, Sunwest reported ~$4.4 billion of assets. But, following the Denver acquisition, the privately held bank now describes itself as having more than $5 billion of assets.

This Nano Banc transaction also returns Sunwest to an acquisition strategy it knows well.

As Sunwest President and CEO Carson Lappetito noted in the acquisition news release, the Friday transaction represents Sunwest’s sixth FDIC-assisted acquisition.

"This opportunity reflects the financial strength, disciplined management, and stability that have defined Sunwest Bank for more than five decades. We are excited to welcome Nano Banc's customers to Sunwest and show them the high-touch service, advanced technology and sophistication we offer to our clients."

According to Sunwest’s corporate history, the bank previously acquired five failed institutions between 2009 and 2014:
🔷  MetroPacific Bank and Pacific Coast National Bank in California;
🔷  First State Bank in Arizona;
🔷  Westside Community Bank in Washington; and
🔷  Syringa Bank in Idaho.

Those transactions helped expand what began in 1969 as a small Tustin, California bank into a regional financial institution.

Sunwest later relocated its corporate headquarters to Sandy while retaining a substantial California presence.

Now, more than a decade after its last FDIC-assisted acquisition, the Utah-headquartered bank is returning to that same expansion playbook in the state where it originated.

Exactly how attractive the Nano Banc transaction will end up being financially remains unclear as the public information reviewed by Utah Money Watch does not yet disclose the underlying purchase economics, including
🔺 Any deposit premium,
🔺 Asset discount, or
🔺 Other financial protections.

In other words, it's possible those numbers could materially change the financial interpretation of the transaction.

But for now, however, the scale of Sunwest’s recent expansion is clear:

In under two months, Utah's Sunwest Bank has added nearly $1 billion in deposits via two acquisitions.

What is not clear, however, is the effective price Sunwest will eventually pay for acquiring essentially all of Nano Banc's deposits and a portion of its assets because those amounts are yet to be disclosed.

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