Coastal Financial Corp

Because COASTAL FINANCIAL CORP is a bank holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve, any investment or capital decision must account for the bank's capital ratios, lending limits, and regulatory standing. This makes it less agile than an unregistered SFO for venture capital or opportunistic private equity, but it provides access to insured deposit funding and a permanent community-banking franchise that generates recurring earnings independently of investment returns.

Coastal Community Bank built one of the largest BaaS divisions among U.S. community banks, partnering with fintech platforms to hold end-user deposits and issue payment cards. The unit drove significant fee income from interchange and service charges. In 2023–2024, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a consent order requiring the bank to overhaul its BaaS compliance and anti-money-laundering controls (per OCC enforcement actions, 2023). This has reduced the unit's growth trajectory and shifted focus back to traditional community banking.

Eric Sprink, as CEO and a director, is the most visible decision-maker. A trust for his benefit acquired additional shares in a July 2024 secondary purchase from another director, increasing combined family control (per SEC Form 4 filings, 2024). The board includes community members and bank executives, but the family's combined holdings represent the largest voting bloc.

In August 2023, the OCC issued a formal agreement requiring Coastal Community Bank to strengthen BSA/AML compliance, third-party risk management for fintech partners, and internal controls (per OCC Enforcement Action 2023-038). Because the bank is the primary asset of the family holding company, regulatory restrictions on capital distributions and business-line growth directly limit the family's ability to extract dividends or redeploy capital. The order remains in effect as of early 2025.

Eric Sprink has been with Coastal Community Bank since 1989 and became CEO in 2013. The family's wealth originates from equity accumulation in the bank holding company over a multi-decade career rather than from an external liquidity event. The bank itself began as a small Snohomish County institution and grew through organic lending and, more recently, its fintech banking partnerships.