First Tennessee bank exits Virginia to focus elsewhere

Friday, January 25, 2019, Vol. 43, No. 4

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Tennessee-based bank is exiting the Virginia market to focus on high-growth markets in the Carolinas, Florida and its home state.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the lone Capital Bank office in the state will close by April 26. The First Horizon National Corp. unit's Virginia location wasn't a traditional bank branch, instead handling consumer, commercial and private banking lines of business in Virginia and elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Virginia office opened in 2008 as an outpost of First Tennessee Bank, which merged with Capital Bank in 2017 and became part of First Horizon.

The closure means the departure of 10 employees, including Virginia market president Gail Letts.

Letts says the bank hopes to retain clients in the region, despite the lack of a local presence.