PASCAGOULA, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 2025--
Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX: MNMB) and its wholly owned subsidiary Merchants & Marine Bank proudly announce Board leadership changes following the Company’s 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting held on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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Clayton Legear, who has served as President & Chief Executive Officer of the Company, the Bank, and its Family of Brands since 2019, has been elected Chairman of the Board of both the Company and the Bank. Legear succeeds Royce Cumbest in this role. Cumbest, who led Merchants & Marine Bank as President & CEO from 1985 to 2019, and also as Chairman of the Board from 1991 to 2025, retired from the Board after four decades of exemplary service. In addition to his service to the Company and the Bank, Cumbest made significant contributions to South Mississippi and beyond through a career of servant leadership. Cumbest will remain actively involved in economic and community development in retirement.
“It is an honor to follow in the footsteps of an extraordinary servant leader like Royce Cumbest, whose legacy of leadership and commitment to both our team and the communities we serve is unmatched,” said Legear. “I look forward to continuing to work closely with our Board, our leadership team, and our entire Family of Brands as we continue building on the tremendous legacy that Royce has left.”
Legear began his career with Merchants & Marine Bank in 2011. Prior to being named President & Chief Executive Officer in 2019, he served in a variety of leadership roles within the Bank and the Company, including: Compliance Manager, Chief Risk Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and President. Before joining the Bank, he worked as a Financial Institution Examiner and Deposit Insurance Claims Specialist with the FDIC.
Diann Payne, who has served as a Director of the Company since 2009, was elected Vice Chairman & Lead Independent Director. Payne brings a wealth of experience from the public and financial sectors, having served as Executive Director of Community Action of South Mississippi for over twenty years. Her background also includes service as a bank examiner for the FDIC and as a financial analyst for a banking institution. Ms. Payne currently chairs the Board’s Governance, Succession, and Compensation Committee.
“Diann’s leadership, expertise, and longstanding commitment to our Company and the communities we serve make her an ideal choice for Vice Chairman & Lead Independent Director,” said Legear. “Her insights and balanced perspective will continue to be invaluable as we navigate the future and continue to grow our Family of Brands.”
About Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc.
Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX: MNMB) is the parent company of Merchants & Marine Bank (the “Bank”), a Mississippi-chartered community bank serving the Gulf South region. Initially founded in 1899, Merchants & Marine Bank was reborn in 1932 during the middle of the worst economic disaster in the history of the United States: The Great Depression. More than nine decades later, Merchants & Marine Bank has grown from a strong community bank to a strong and growing family of community banking brands. The Bank provides a full array of community banking services through its Merchants & Marine Bank and Mississippi River Bank brands. The Bank offers mortgage financing through its Canvas Mortgage brand, medical cannabis banking and payment solutions through its CannaFirst Financial brand, government-guaranteed credit solutions through its Voyager Lending brand, and bank operational and support services through its Community of Resources bank services brand. For more information on Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc., visit https://mandmbank.com/investor-relations.
Diann Payne
Royce Cumbest
Clayton Legear
CAIRO (AP) — Hamas said Sunday it will dissolve its existing government in Gaza once a Palestinian technocratic leadership committee takes over the territory, as mandated under the U.S.-brokered peace plan. But the group gave no specifics on when the change will occur.
Hamas and the rival Palestinian Authority, the Palestinians’ internationally recognized representative, have not announced the names of the technocrats, who are not supposed to be politically affiliated, and it remains unclear if they will be cleared by Israel and the U.S.
The “Board of Peace,” an international body led by Trump, is supposed to oversee the government and other aspects of the ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10, including disarming Hamas and deploying an international security force. The board's members have not been announced.
Meanwhile, the post-ceasefire death toll continued to rise in Gaza, with Israeli gunfire killing three Palestinians, according to Palestinian hospital officials.
The ceasefire began with a halt in fighting and the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for thousands of Palestinians held by Israel. The deal is still in its first phase as efforts continue to recover the remains of the final hostage left in Gaza.
An Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door information, said Hamas was sending a delegation to talks with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish officials about moving to the second phase.
In comments posted on his Telegram channel Sunday, Hazem Kassem, a Hamas spokesman, called for speeding up the establishment of the technocratic committee.
The Egyptian official said Hamas will meet with other Palestinian factions this week to finalize the committee's formation. The Hamas delegation will be chaired by top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, the official said.
Trump has said the “Board of Peace " will monitor the committee and handle the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, additional pullbacks of Israeli troops and Gaza's reconstruction. The U.S. has reported little progress on any of these fronts, though the members of the board are expected to be announced this week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov has been selected as the board’s director-general. Mladenov is a former Bulgarian defense and foreign minister who served as U.N. envoy to Iraq before being appointed as the U.N. Mideast peace envoy from 2015 to 2020. During that time, he had good working relations with Israel and frequently worked to ease Israel-Hamas tensions.
Also Sunday, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar met in Jerusalem with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. Saar said Israel was committed to enforcing Trump’s plan, while Motegi expressed Japan’s willingness to play an active role in the ceasefire.
According to Japan's Foreign Ministry, Motegi visited the Civil-Military Coordination Center, where the ceasefire is being monitored. He was also set to meet Netanyahu and Palestinian officials in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In Gaza, two men were shot dead in the southern town of Bani Suhaila, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Earlier Sunday, a man was killed by Israeli gunfire in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, according to Al-Ahly hospital, which received the body.
In response to questions about the Tuffah incident, Israel’s military said it had fired at and hit a “terrorist” in northern Gaza who had approached troops.
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire. Continued Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed more than 400 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
The Israeli military says any actions since the ceasefire began have been in response to violations of the agreement.
Israeli police said Sunday they were questioning a top official from Netanyahu's office over possible obstruction of an investigation into last year's leak of classified military information to a German tabloid.
Israeli media identified the official as Tzachi Braverman, Netanyahu’s chief of staff, who is expected to start as the next ambassador to the United Kingdom in the coming months.
He’s the latest official to be caught up in the scandal, in which Netanyahu’s inner circle is accused of leaking confidential information to German tabloid Bild to improve public perception of the prime minister following the killing of six hostages in Gaza in August of 2025.
It comes after an explosive interview by Kan News with former Netanyahu spokesperson, Eli Feldstein, who described a clandestine meeting with Braverman in an underground parking lot in the middle of the night in connection with the leak. Feldstein, who has been indicted, said Braverman offered to “shut down” the probe into the leaked information.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid immediately called for the suspension of Braverman as ambassador. “It is unacceptable that a person suspected of involvement in obstructing a serious security investigation should be the face of Israel in one of Europe’s most important countries,” Lapid wrote on X.
In response, Saar defended Braverman’s appointment and said he would not be removed from it until formally charged or tried.
Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, left, meets with Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Jerusalem, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across an area in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
