JULY 9, 2026: Adrienne Thorson, CEO and Chairwoman of AmeriNat, was interviewed by Bank Director on a governance issue she's encountered firsthand more than once: what happens when a bank holding company can't live up to its role as a financial and managerial backstop for the bank beneath it.
Federal regulation requires holding companies to act as a "source of strength" to their subsidiary banks, supporting their safety and soundness. In practice, Thorson explained, that relationship doesn't always hold. She saw this play out in 2015, when American Bank of St. Paul's holding company was forced into bankruptcy after it couldn't cover interest payments on debt it had issued — a situation that ultimately led to the bank being sold and its loan servicing arm, AmeriNat, being acquired separately. She encountered similar dynamics again in 2024, when AmeriNat itself became a bank holding company through its acquisition of Northwest Bancorp, a debt-burdened institution.
Her takeaway: many bank boards aren't fully prepared for the decisions this kind of situation forces on them. "When the holding company is not a source of strength, [directors] need to stop and look at their obligation to the safety and soundness of the bank," Thorson told Bank Director — a responsibility that extends to depositors, creditors, and regulators, not just shareholders.
The article also draws on the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank as a broader industry example of this tension, and includes perspective from banking attorneys and former regulators on how the "source of strength" doctrine is enforced, why holding company and bank boards can face conflicting fiduciary duties, and what steps directors can take to protect themselves — including leaning on the business judgment rule, documenting their decision-making process, and involving legal counsel early when issues surface in an exam report.
