Nearly 80 investors put $29.2 million into Louisiana's first new bank charter since 2010

The FDIC approved Nola's deposit insurance application in October 2024 ^[7], and the bank opened for business on Monday ^[1]. At least 15 months separate the two ^[5]. The group had been in organization for more than two years ^[2]. An opening lags the process that produced it, and applications filed under whatever the agencies are doing now will produce banks that open in 2027 and 2028.

Seven openings against five in all of 2025 is 40 percent more banks ^[3][4][1], and one fewer than the eight that opened in 2023, which the FDIC still counts as the recent high ^[5][2].

Nola raised $29.2 million from nearly 80 outside investors and board members, according to Chief Banking Officer Chris Shah ^[8], which averages about $365,000 apiece ^[3]. Chairman Henry Coaxum said it is "very difficult to convince folks to invest" until they "understand that you're really investing in yourself" ^[19]. He also said the COVID pandemic and the inflation that followed created roadblocks for organizers on top of the regulatory climate ^[22].

Nola's 12-member board includes four Black and four Indian-American directors, and the bank is applying for certification as a minority depository institution ^[12]. MDI banks can take part in several special government programs, and mainstream institutions receive Community Reinvestment Act credit for partnering with and depositing funds at MDI lenders ^[13]. Coaxum said Nola "will qualify as a minority depository institution right away, as soon as we complete the process" ^[16], and he expects the status to help the bank grow loans and deposits faster than planned ^[14]. If it comes through, Nola can raise deposits from institutions buying CRA credit as well as from New Orleans customers.

Nola is the first bank in the state to receive a new charter since Lakeside Bank opened in Lake Charles in 2010, a gap of about 16 years ^[9][6], and Lakeside did not stay independent: the $290 million-asset Catalyst Bancorp of Opelousas acquired it in July ^[10]. Nola's raise is roughly a tenth of Catalyst's asset base ^[4]. Omner told American Banker that Nola is filling a gap left by the consolidation of dozens of community banks over two decades ^[21], and that the survivors "are not small community banks any more" but "growing to the size where they're going to be called regionals pretty soon" ^[18].

In my view seven openings nationally is weak evidence of an easier chartering path, because the cohort cutting ribbons this year cleared the FDIC before the agencies began talking about streamlining ^[6][7]. Two readings compete with that. One is Omner's: he described weekly meetings with the FDIC and Louisiana's Office of Financial Institutions through a year-long sprint to opening ^[15], and said "[The regulators] recognize it and were very helpful" ^[17]. That is what a faster queue looks like from the applicant's side. The other is that the equity check was the binding constraint all along, in which case the count tracks local investor appetite and nothing else. The 2027 openings separate them.