(Financial details in paragraph 3 and background in paragraphs 2, 4 and 5) Oct 10 (Reuters) – Bank holding firm Central Bancompany on Friday revealed an about 6% rise in revenue in the first half of the year as it filed for a U.S. initial public offering, becoming the latest financial firm to seek a buoyant listing market. U.S. IPO activity has picked up in recent months after a lull caused by market volatility and trade policy uncertainty, with strong debuts from Alliance Laundry and Phoenix Education Partners on Thursday underscoring renewed investor appetite for risk. Last month, another bank holding firm Commercial Bancgroup and automated digital wealth management company Wealthfront had said they plan to list in the U.S. Since the 2008 financial crisis, U.S. bank IPOs have been rare, as tighter regulations, rising compliance costs and market volatility reduced the appeal of public listings. Central Bancompany had net income of $186.2 million on total revenue of $493.2 million for the six months ended June 30, compared with net income of $171.3 million on revenue of $466.1 million a year earlier, according to a filing. The Jefferson City, Missouri-based Central Bancompany had $19.1 billion in total assets and $14.2 billion in wealth assets under advice as of June 30. Through its unit, the Central Trust Bank, it offers consumer, commercial and wealth management services across Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. Central Bancompany will list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "CBC". Morgan Stanley and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods are the lead underwriters for the offering. (Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Alan Barona and Sahal Muhammed)
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