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Commercial Banking

• Citi participates in Trulioo's $45.3M Series C funding round

  
  Sep 17 -
  Global identity verification provider Trulioo has received roughly $45.3 million in Series C financing in a round led by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, with participation from Citi Ventures, Santander InnoVentures and existing investor American Express Ventures. The company has also received nearly $7.6 million in follow-on funding from early investors Blumberg Capital and BDC Capital, bringing its total amount raised since 2011 to roughly $73 million. Trulioo will use the funding to scale up operations in new markets. The company also expects to grow its headcount to 200 from 130 currently.
  Related:
  Goldman Sachs invests $5M in rental startup NestAway Technologies - TechCircle
  

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• Citizens Bank brand approach emphasizes personalized journeys based on data

  
  Sep 18 -
  Citizens Bank launched a product and brand approach based on customer journeys called Made Ready. The strategy won’t result in any immediate changes in customer experience. Rather, it’s an indication of how the bank sees the evolution of its product roadmap, particularly how different offerings come together as curated journeys based on customer insights garnered through data. Made Ready is about organizing products around a particular customer experience and the personalized advice the bank can offer based on individual insights, including such life stages as education, home buying, retirement, small business and community.
  

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• Bank of America joins blockchain network

  
  Sep 19 -
  Bank of America joined Marco Polo, a consortium working to bring efficiencies to international trade using blockchain technology. Founded by startups R3 and TradeIX, Marco Polo is built on R3’s Corda blockchain platform. The network aims to deliver real-time connectivity, greater visibility for trading relationships and lower barriers to accessing capital. David E. Rutter, R3 CEO, said he hopes more U.S. banks will be encouraged to join Marco Polo.
  

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Real Estate Finance

• Wells Fargo provides $403M acquisition loan for Phoenix resort

  
  Sep 18 -
  Wells Fargo has helped fund the acquisition of a large Arizona resort hotel for the joint venture of Trinity Real Estate Investments and Elliott Management Corp. The J.W. Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa is a 950-room hotel in the Desert Ridge area, just beyond Phoenix’s State Route 101 beltway about 10 miles northeast of the city center. The buyers paid $602 million after coming to terms with the seller, Blackstone.
  

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• Rivington House purchased for $160M by unidentified buyer

  
  Sep 18 -
  Slate, China Vanke and Adam America Group sold the 150,000-square-foot building at 45 Rivington Street to an anonymous buyer for $159.6 million. Rivington House operated as a nursing home for people living with HIV/AIDS until it closed in 2015. Nursing home company Allure Group - led by de Blasio donor Joel Landau - purchased the property in February 2015 for $28 million.
  

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• AREP, Rockwood purchase Arlington, Va. office building for $57.5M

  
  Sep 18 -
  Located at 2000 North 15th Street, just two blocks from the Court House Metro, the building is situated in the heart of the Roslyn-Ballston Corridor, which AREP already has a strong presence in. The company owns the 22-floor Roslyn City Center above the Roslyn Metro Station at 1700 North Moore Street, and recently announced a $35 million renovation to the mixed-use building. Originally built in 1985, Arlington Plaza was acquired by Carr Properties in 2007 for $71.5 million.
  

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Commercial Bankruptcy

• Maine hospital files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with $25M in debt

  
  Sep 18 -
  The 25-bed Calais Regional Hospital owes nearly 1,900 creditors. The company hopes the bankruptcy process will allow the hospital to restructure its debts and implement operational changes to boost earnings. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is the hospital’s largest creditor. As of Sept. 9, the outstanding balance on the hospital's USDA loan was $10.8 million. The Bangor Daily News reports that the hospital owes more than $3.2 million to several vendors, including Brentwood, Tenn.-based Quorum Health Services. Quorum managed the hospital until 2018.
  

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• Sienna Biopharmaceuticals files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and delays phase III psoriasis trial

  
  Sep 18 -
  After the filing share prices dropped more than 73%, Frederick C. Beddingfield III, president and CEO, said filing Chapter 11 is in the “best interests” of the company and its stakeholders. In August, the company selected Cowen as an independent financial advisor designated to assist it with the exploration of “financial and strategic alternatives” that would maximize shareholder value. Sienna Biopharmaceuticals had already met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to lay out the framework of a Phase III psoriasis drug trial, including primary endpoint. However, with the bankruptcy filing, the company will hold off on initiating that late-stage trial until it has the capital to do so.
  

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• Thomas Cook files for U.S. bankruptcy protection

  
  Sep 17 -
  Thomas Cook Group filed for Chapter 15 court protection in the U.S. as part of a broader debt restructuring for the U.K. travel agent. The travel agent's creditors are set to vote on Sept. 27 on a proposed scheme of arrangement, a U.K. court procedure that will allow Chinese investor Fosun Tourism Group to lead a planned rescue of the company.
  

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