Palm Beach Bank Merger: is Florida’s turnaround finally here?

Everyone remembers the consolidation of banks in the 90’s.  Are we witnessing a new round of bank consolidation?  (If so, do Palm Beach trustees want to load up on bank stocks?)   1st United Bank of Florida, https://www.1stunitedbankfl.com, (Palm Beach County’s largest local bank) was just acquired by Valley National from New Jersey.  Does this mean that our economy is finally turning around? This photo below is of the Evernia Street office in West Palm Beach, just a block from our Palm Beach probate law firm.

• There always seems to be interest from northeast banks in Florida
• 1st United Bank was built by an incredible team of bankers, with vision who knew what it takes to build a solid bank
• I remember its first branches in downtown West Palm Beach, about 3 blocks from the Palm Beach Probate Court, as well ain North Palm Beach and Boca Raton
• In fact, the 1st United management team was kind enough to meet with a young(er) West Palm Beach probate litigator about 10 years ago when he was just starting his probate litigation law practice:  me
• We discussed Palm Beach wealth management and whether the bank was going to get into the Palm Beach trust business
• This acquisition is a sign that our economy is turning around:  congrats to everyone at 1st United !   Attention is a great form of flattery.

Here is the link to the story if you want to read more:  http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2014/05/08/1st-united-palm-beach-county-s-largest-bank.html