Mechanics Bank

In 1905, a small bank opened in a vacant storefront near the corner of 3rd and Macdonald Avenue in Richmond, California; soon afterward it took a name reflecting its association with the workers of Richmond’s two largest employers at the time, Standard OilStandard OilStandard Oil was an oil company founded in 1870 in Cleveland, Ohio, by John D. Rockefeller and others. Through mergers and expansion, and organizational forms including the trust of 1882 and the New Jersey holding company of 1899, it at one time controlled most of the refining capacity in the United States. In 1911 the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of its holding company under the Sherman Anti-trust Act, and the companies split off from it later evolved into oil companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron.Open the full entry and the Santa Fe Railroad, and FDIC records list its original name as The Mechanics Bank of Richmond. Under the leadership of local businessman and banker E.M. Downer, the bank survived the Great Depression and two world wars.⁠[1][1][2][1]

According to its official history, the bank was one of the first in the state to pay daily interest on savings accounts and pioneered specialized lending for personal needs such as appliances and autos in the 1930s; during World War II it met shipbuilders on the docks to cash their paychecks, and it brought the first drive-thru banking windows to Northern California, later establishing a full-service trust department and a commercial lending practice. Its deposits have been FDIC-insured since January 1, 1934.⁠[1][1][1][3]

On February 25, 1997, The Mechanics Bank of Richmond was renamed The Mechanics Bank; on March 24, 2011, it was renamed Mechanics Bank.⁠[2][2]

During the 2008 financial crisis, when the federal government launched the taxpayer-funded Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to provide capital and liquidity to financial institutions, Mechanics Bank was one of the first banks in the country to decline the funds. After the crisis, the bank reached $3 billion in assets in 2011.⁠[1][1]

On April 30, 2015, an affiliate of the Ford Financial Funds acquired a majority of Mechanics Bank’s voting shares from certain shareholders, and the bank has been controlled by the Ford Financial Funds since then. Ford Financial is a Dallas-based private equity firm founded by veteran bankers Carl Webb and Gerald J. Ford that invests in community banks; after taking control it placed Mechanics Bank under an interim chief executive while it looked for other banks to acquire. Webb said the firm buys more banks than it sells, puts them under one umbrella, and runs them as though it will own them forever. On January 1, 2016, the bank moved its headquarters from Richmond to Walnut Creek.⁠[4][4][5][5][5][2]

On April 28, 2016, Mechanics Bank and Irvine-based California Republic Bancorp announced a definitive merger agreement under which the latter’s shareholders would receive $37.19 per share in cash, for a total of about $330 million. At the time, Mechanics Bank had $3.6 billion in assets and 30 branches in Northern California and was the largest bank headquartered in the Bay Area’s East Bay region; California Republic had about $1.8 billion in assets and an auto lending division operating across 14 states. Then-president and CEO Ken Russell said Mechanics Bank had plenty of capital and capacity and that California Republic was an extraordinarily effective and efficient asset generator.⁠[6][6][5][6][6][6]

The merger took effect on October 1, 2016, with California Republic Bancorp and its subsidiary California Republic Bank merging into Mechanics Bank, adding about $1.8 billion in assets and five Southern California branches in Newport Beach, Beverly HillsBeverly HillsBeverly Hills is an incorporated city in Los Angeles County, California, known for its film-industry residents, Rodeo Drive shopping district and hotels. Incorporated on January 28, 1914, it covers about 5.71 square miles and recorded 32,701 residents in the 2020 census. It operates under a council–manager system. The Metro D Line extension reached Wilshire/La Cienega in May 2026.Open the full entry, Irvine, Westlake Village, and San Diego; Mechanics Bank used proceeds from a rights offering to help fund the merger consideration and continued California Republic’s indirect auto lending business as its CRB Auto division. Former California Republic Bancorp president John DeCero succeeded Ken Russell as president and chief executive officer of Mechanics Bank, while Russell returned to Ford Financial Fund and remained a director. Chairman Carl Webb later said this was the first foray into Southern California for Mechanics Bank, which had essentially been a Northern California bank.⁠[4][7][7][7][7][5]

On June 1, 2018, Mechanics Bank completed its acquisition of the 150-year-old Scott Valley Bank in Northern California, growing to $6 billion in assets.⁠[4][1]

In March 2019, Mechanics Bank announced that it would acquire Rabobank, N.A., a bank about twice its size, for $2.1 billion. At the time, Mechanics Bank had more than $6 billion in assets and 44 branches, while Rabobank, N.A. had more than $13 billion in assets and 100 branches. Rabobank’s global strategy had shifted toward agricultural lending, so it was selling its retail, business banking, commercial real estate, mortgage, and wealth management businesses, with its food and agribusiness assets excluded from the deal. To fund the deal, Ford Financial raised $1 billion from large partners in 75 days.⁠[8][5][8][8][8]

On August 31, 2019, Mechanics Bank completed its acquisition of Rabobank, N.A., a subsidiary of Rabobank International Holding, and announced it on September 3. Total consideration was about $2.1 billion; the combined bank kept the Mechanics Bank name, with more than $17 billion in assets and 144 branches, becoming the fifth-largest California-based bank. Ford Financial Fund then owned 81% of Mechanics Bank; DeCero and former Rabobank, N.A. chief executive Mark Borrecco became co-CEOs.⁠[4][9][9][9][9][9][9]

In February 2023, Mechanics Bank stopped originating auto loans and continued to service its existing auto loan portfolio itself until May 1, 2025, when it handed that work to a third-party servicer.⁠[4]

On February 15, 2024, John DeCero retired as chief executive of Mechanics Bank. During his tenure the bank tripled its assets, becoming the eighth-largest bank headquartered in California and the 108th-largest in the nation, with more than 1,500 employees. Chairman Carl Webb said DeCero had made the decision to retire, that the parting was amicable, and that the bank would keep him on for a few years as a paid consultant; no successor had been named at the time.⁠[5][5][5][5]

On March 31, 2025, Mechanics Bank and Nasdaq-listed HomeStreet, Inc. announced an all-stock merger agreement: HomeStreet Bank would merge into Mechanics Bank, Mechanics Bank would become a wholly owned subsidiary of HomeStreet, Inc., and HomeStreet, Inc. would be renamed Mechanics Bancorp and remain publicly traded. At the time, Mechanics Bank had 112 branches and more than $16 billion in assets, while HomeStreet had 56 branches in Washington, Oregon, Southern California, and Hawaii and about $8 billion in assets. The transaction valued HomeStreet and Mechanics Bank at pre-transaction estimated equity values of about $300 million and $3.3 billion, respectively; after the merger, legacy Mechanics Bank shareholders were expected to own about 91.7%, including about 74.3% held by Ford Financial Fund and its affiliates. Chairman Carl B. Webb said the merger would give the bank a West Coast footprint from San Diego to Seattle and make it a publicly traded bank holding company.⁠[10][10][10][10][10][10][10][10]

On September 2, 2025, the merger was completed: HomeStreet Bank merged into Mechanics Bank, HomeStreet, Inc. was renamed Mechanics Bancorp, and its Class A common stock began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol MCHB. The combined company had 166 branches in California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii and more than $22 billion in assets. After the merger, the Ford entities together held about 77.7% of the voting power and 74.4% of the economic interest. Executive Chairman Carl B. Webb said the bank’s presence now spanned from San Diego to Seattle.⁠[11][11][12][11][12][11]

On May 7, 2026, Mechanics Bank completed the sale of its Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS) business line to Fifth Third Bank, National Association, for aggregate cash consideration of about $126 million; Fifth Third Bank took over the roughly $1.8 billion DUS servicing portfolio and hired the employees who operated the business.⁠[13][13]

On July 7, 2026, Mechanics Bank announced the opening of Mechanics Bank Trust Company of Delaware, a wholly owned, non-depository subsidiary providing complex trust planning and administration under Delaware law, headed by senior vice president Cindy Brown.⁠[14][14][14]

On September 16, 2026, Mechanics Bancorp announced that Mechanics Bank had sold about $417 million of its remaining performing indirect auto loans to Bank of America’s trading desk at a price near book value, with a cutoff date of August 31, 2026, retaining about $13 million. President and CEO C.J. Johnson said the sale would reduce risk, improve liquidity, and enhance future profitability.⁠[15][15][15]

As of October 2026, Mechanics Bank is a California state-chartered commercial bank regulated by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation and the FDIC; its holding company, Mechanics Bancorp, is a Washington-incorporated financial holding company primarily regulated by the Federal Reserve. As of June 30, 2026, the bank had $21.2 billion in assets and 166 branches in California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, offering consumer and business banking, commercial lending, cash management, private banking, and wealth management and trust services.⁠[4][4][4][15][15]

The president and chief executive officer is C.J. Johnson, a former partner of Ford Financial Fund and former chief financial officer of Mechanics Bank; Carl B. Webb is executive chairman of Mechanics Bancorp, and both Johnson and Webb are employed by GJF Management.⁠[16][16][4]

Mechanics Bank: Official website: https://www.mechanicsbank.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]

X: Public account: https://x.com/mechanicsbank (opens in a new window)⁠[17]

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