Chain Bridge Bank

Chain Bridge Bank, National Association (N.A.) is a United States nationally chartered bank headquartered in McLean, Virginia. Established in 2007 by former Illinois Senator Peter Fitzgerald, the bank serves trade associations, think tanks, lobbying firms, political committees, nonprofit organizations, other businesses, and individuals nationwide.

History

Chain Bridge was founded in 2007 by Peter Fitzgerald, two years after he left his Senate seat. The bank was started and capitalized, in part, with family wealth. Fitzgerald's father, Gerald F. Fitzgerald, previously chaired Chicago's Suburban Bancorp, which was sold to Bank of Montreal in 1994 for $246 million. The extended Fitzgerald family has a history in banking, having owned, co-owned, or managed approximately 57 community banks since the 1940s.

Shortly after opening, Chain Bridge Bank cancelled a bricks and mortar branching strategy and instead shifted to online technologies, such as remote deposit capture, in order to provide bank services nationwide. The bank only has one physical branch, in McLean 10 miles west of Washington, D.C.

During the 2008 financial crisis, Chain Bridge Bank attracted client deposits due to its lack of bad assets and debt. Peter Fitzgerald stated in September 2008, "We're drowning in liquidity because people are pulling money out from other places and depositing it with us." To accommodate clients' needs, particularly political campaigns requiring ready access to funds, the bank maintained high liquidity by investing deposits at the Federal Reserve or other liquid assets.

In 2012, the bank created a mortgage division specializing in customized lending, with a focus on jumbo loans.

The bank operates as a subsidiary of Chain Bridge Bancorp, Inc., a Delaware-chartered bank holding company. On October 7, 2024, the Company completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) by issuing 1.85 million shares of Class A common stock at a public offering price of $22 per share. The Company raised approximately $40.7 million in gross proceeds from its IPO. Shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CBNA."

Political connections

Chain Bridge Bank's political profile expanded when Presidential candidate John McCain, Peter Fitzgerald's former Senate colleague, moved campaign funds to the bank in 2008. By 2011, the bank was "fast becoming the preferred bank of the Republican Party." In 2015, ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' headlined a story, "Where Candidates Stash Their Cash," describing the bank's dominance in banking Republican presidential campaigns and allied committees and called Chain Bridge Bank "The Most Important Bank in America."

Based on Fitzgerald's personal knowledge from his own experience in politics, the bank's services and policies are designed to meet the needs of political campaigns. For example, the bank keeps its wire service open later than mass retail banks. Also, Chain Bridge is familiar with Federal Election Committee regulations. In 2012, they loaned money to the Mitt Romney presidential campaign against donations that could not be granted to Romney until he was officially named the Republican party nominee and in 2020 they made a similar loan to the National Republican Senatorial Committee against deposits and donations. As a result of this focus, Chain Bridge is dependent on its political business. "Its deposits tend to swell in election years and dissipate as soon as ballots are cast," noted the ''Bloomberg'' article.

Leadership

* Peter G. Fitzgerald, chairman of Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. and Chain Bridge Bancorp, Inc.
* John J. Brough, chief executive officer and director of Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. and Chain Bridge Bancorp, Inc.
* David M. Evinger, president – risk management and director of Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. and Chain Bridge Bancorp, Inc.
* Joanna Williamson, chief financial officer, Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. and treasurer, Chain Bridge Bancorp, Inc.

Board

The Chain Bridge Bank board of directors includes Michelle Korsmo, president and chief executive officer of the National Restaurant Association; Michael J. Conover, who established and led the financial risk management practice at KPMG; Yonesy F. Núñez, Managing Director and Chief Information Security Officer at The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and former Chief Information Security Officer at Jack Henry & Associates; Leigh-Alexandra Basha, partner and private client practice lead at McDermott Will & Emery; and Mark Martinelli, who was EVP & Chief Audit Executive of Synchrony Financial. Thomas Fitzgerald and Andrew Fitzgerald, Peter Fitzgerald's relatives are also on the board.

Clients

Chain Bridge Bank's clientele include a large number of Republican political campaigns, including John McCain, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, and Donald Trump. In addition, many super-PACs have also had accounts at Chain Bridge, such as ones representing Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, John Boehner, Sarah Palin, and the Republican National Committee.

Other Chain Bridge Republican affiliated clients have included several lobbying firms, the Susan B. Anthony List, the American Conservative Union (host of CPAC), and American Crossroads.

Investigations

The Hawaii GOP told the FEC in February 2021 that it had a previously undisclosed bank account associated with the Trump Victory Committee at Chain Bridge. They declined to speak about why the account was created or how it was used.

One Chain Bridge client, the Trump Victory Committee, was being investigated for campaign finance reporting discrepancies as of April 2021. The Trump Victory Committee made disbursements to state GOP committees, who in turn passed identical disbursements on to the RNC. This may have been an attempt to evade regulations limiting contributions that the RNC can receive.

References

External links

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Companies based in McLean, Virginia
Banks based in Virginia
Banks established in 2007
2007 establishments in Virginia