In the high-stakes world of regional banking, few tasks are as daunting as a wholesale credit overhaul. For Coral Gables-based Amerant Bancorp, the transition from late 2025 to the present has been defined by a singular, intense focus: de-risking the balance sheet and establishing a sustainable path forward. Since ascending to the roles of President and CEO in May 2026—following a period as interim leader—Carlos Iafigliola has moved decisively to steer the $10.3 billion-asset institution away from the instability that plagued its recent past.
Under Iafigliola’s leadership, Amerant has transitioned from a period of reactive crisis management toward a proactive, culture-driven model of institutional growth. By tightening credit standards, centralizing business lines, and courting specific, high-value commercial niches, the bank is attempting to prove that its "new normal" is not just a defensive measure, but a strategic platform for long-term profitability.
A Chronology of Change: From Turbulence to Retooling
The seeds of Amerant’s current transformation were sown in the final months of 2025. The company found itself in a precarious position following the sudden departure of former CEO Jerry Plush, an exit that followed a troubling third-quarter earnings report.
In that Q3 2025 filing, the bank revealed a sharp spike in nonperforming assets (NPAs), which climbed to $140 million from $98 million in the preceding quarter. The market reacted swiftly; analysts, including Piper Sandler’s Stephen Scouten, noted that the accumulation of problem commercial real estate and commercial loans had cast a shadow over management’s credibility. The bank ultimately incurred $3.8 million in separation costs related to Plush’s departure, a figure that underscored the severity of the leadership vacuum and the underlying financial friction.
Iafigliola, stepping into the role first on an interim basis and then permanently in May 2026, wasted little time. His first order of business was transparency and diagnosis. During the fourth quarter of 2025, Amerant initiated a comprehensive, third-party audit of its entire loan portfolio.
"We were able to retool the credit team to perform multiple types of analysis to validate the portfolio, and to try to create improvements on the asset quality of the bank," Iafigliola stated in a recent interview. This process, while painful in the short term—resulting in a further rise in NPAs to $187 million by the end of 2025—provided the baseline necessary for the bank’s subsequent "risk recalibration."
The Mechanics of the Turnaround: Retooling and Governance
The "retooling" mentioned by Iafigliola was not merely a cosmetic change in management personnel. It involved a fundamental rewrite of the bank’s internal DNA. During the fourth quarter of 2025, the bank brought in Lee Ann Cragg as the new Chief Credit Officer to spearhead this shift.
Throughout 2026, Amerant systematically overhauled its credit practices, ranging from foundational policies and standard operating procedures to the integration of more rigorous internal monitoring systems. According to the CEO, the bank is now in the process of embedding a new internal culture—one that prioritizes a more cautious, data-driven approach to risk appetite.
"We are progressively changing the internal culture around how we embrace credit risk within our lending portfolio," Iafigliola remarked. "That is paying off."
The efficacy of these changes is becoming visible in the bank’s recent financial disclosures. By the second quarter of 2026, the trend line for nonperforming assets had finally shifted downward. NPAs dipped by $5 million from the first quarter to reach $186.6 million, representing 1.81% of total assets, an improvement from the 1.93% recorded in Q1. While gross loans increased by $112 million to $6.9 billion, this growth was achieved in parallel with the strategic exit of riskier loan exposures, signaling that the bank is successfully swapping "bad" growth for "good" growth.
Strategic Simplification and Market Focus
Beyond credit metrics, Iafigliola has simplified the bank’s operational architecture. Amerant has transitioned to a streamlined structure consisting of just two primary business lines: International and Domestic. By trimming unnecessary complexity and focusing on operational efficiency, the bank aims to reduce overhead while sharpening its value proposition for customers.
The bank’s current growth strategy centers on a specific demographic: small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generating $50 million or less in annual revenue. Iafigliola identifies this as the "sweet spot" for a bank of Amerant’s size, where it can provide a "one-stop solution" for business owners.
"When you think about a business owner and their company, we are kind of a one-stop solution for them," Iafigliola explained. He argues that larger, national lenders often struggle to provide a cohesive experience because they silo commercial banking from private wealth management. Amerant’s strategy is to avoid this fragmentation, offering a "household approach" that treats the business owner’s personal and corporate financial needs as a singular, coordinated entity.
The primary target markets for this expansion are the bank’s existing strongholds in South Florida—specifically Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties—and the Tampa metropolitan area. However, the competition is fierce. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) data as of June 2026 indicates that Amerant holds a 2.36% deposit market share in the major South Florida counties and 0.37% in Hillsborough County. While these figures are modest, they provide a stable foundation from which to expand into the logistics, education, and professional services sectors.
International Dynamics and Domestic Adjustments
The bank’s dual-track approach is perhaps most evident in its international operations. While focusing on domestic commercial growth, Amerant continues to serve as a vital financial bridge for Venezuelan clients. In the second quarter of 2026, the bank saw a notable $500 million increase in Venezuelan deposits, bringing the total to $2.5 billion. Iafigliola noted that these are primarily "operating deposits" tied to essential industries, providing the bank with a stable, albeit specialized, funding source.
Conversely, domestic deposits saw a slight contraction, dropping 2% to $5.13 billion during the same period. CFO Sharymar Calderon Yepez explained that this was a deliberate, strategic move: the exit of a "high-cost large fund provider." This decision reflects the bank’s broader philosophy of prioritizing quality over raw volume—accepting a temporary dip in deposit numbers to improve the overall cost of funds and institutional stability.
Looking Forward: The Path to Maturity
As Amerant approaches its third-quarter 2026 earnings release, scheduled for October 23, the mood among leadership is one of guarded optimism. Iafigliola is the first to admit that the work is not yet finished.
"There’s still more work to do," he acknowledged, emphasizing that the "foundation of all these changes has already been established." Every nonperforming loan currently on the books is subject to a specific, active management plan designed to bring the asset back to performing status or exit the exposure entirely.
The implications for shareholders and stakeholders are significant. If Amerant can successfully navigate this transition, it will move from being a bank characterized by "credit surprises" to one known for disciplined, methodical expansion. The transition from a period of high-profile management turnover and ballooning nonperforming assets to a period of systematic risk management suggests that the bank is on the right trajectory.
For now, the focus remains on execution. By aligning its internal culture with a more sophisticated risk-appetite framework and doubling down on the "household" banking model, Amerant is attempting to carve out a permanent, defensible niche in the hyper-competitive Florida market. Whether this "recalibration" will lead to sustained growth or simply a period of stability remains to be seen, but for the moment, Carlos Iafigliola has provided the bank with a roadmap—and the rigor—to move beyond the shadows of 2025.
