In Other Publications (cont.)
Broadway Bank Achieves Major Milestone in Asset Growth
The company surpassed the $2 billion mark in total assets which it attributes to a growth in deposits, up by 20 percent from $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion over the same period.
Frost Insurance Acquires San Marcos Insurance Agency
Insurance Options is Frost Insurances 10th insurance-related acquisition in recent years. Others include Austin-based Prime Benefits, purchased in 2007; and Dallas-based R.G. Seeberger Company, acquired in 2008.
BBVA Economist: Texas Faring Better in Recession
Texas is one of the best places in the world to work through the current global recession, and the third quarter could mark growth in the gross domestic product, said BBVA Compass Chief Economist Nathaniel Karp.
OmniAmerican Bank to Offer Conversion Plan
The Fort Worth banking company said it has adopted a plan of conversion that will allow depositers and others to own stock in the bank.
Guaranty Bank: FDIC Assistance Needed for Survival
The Austin-based banking company stated that it is in discussions with the FDIC and its primary regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision, for a plan where the FDIC would absorb a portion of the banks losses while private investors provide a "significant equity capital infusion."
Liberty Bank Presents New Face to Tarrant County
Liberty Bank is setting off a marketing campaign and rebranding effort to bring in new clients.
TPG Sells Midwest Airlines to Republic Airways
The Fort Worth investment firm, TPG Capital, agreed Tuesday to sell Midwest to Republic Airways Holdings Inc. for $31 million. Less than two years ago, TPG paid about $450 million for the Milwaukee-based carrier.
Huntsman Gets $1.7B Settlement from Banks
Huntsman Corp., based in Salt Lake City but operated from suburban Houston, said Tuesday that Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank agreed to pay a $1.7 billion settlement over its accusation they schemed to scuttle a $6.5 billion buyout of the chemicals maker last year.
Billionaire Stanford Jailed in Alleged $7B Fraud
Brash Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford was indicted and jailed Friday on charges his international banking empire was really just a Ponzi scheme built on lies, bluster and bribery.
Moore Named Encore Bank CEO
Preston Moore has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Encore Bank NA, the banking subsidiary of Encore Bancshares Inc.
Guaranty Stock Surges Surprisingly
Shares of the Austin, Texas banking institution have risen 41 percent in the past four trading days, on volume that topped that of some Fortune 500 companies.
International Bancshares Named One of America's Best Banks
The Laredo, Texas-based banking company earned the No. 11 spot on the American Bankers Association's 2008 list of banks in the U.S. based on return on equity for calender year 2008.
Former Bank Officials Plan New Fort Worth-Based Bank
Two bankers associated with the former State National Bancshares of Fort Worth have filed documents with several federal agencies indicating plans to open a new bank in the city.
Frost Weathers Past, Current Economic Storms
Frost Bank has survived the Great Depression, the 1980s savings and loan debacle, and is continuing to grow through the current recession.
Texas Banker Pushes Congress on Small Business Lending
Cynthia L. Blankenship of the Independent Community Bankers of America urged Congress in early June to support the community banking sector's role in supplying credit to small businesses by promoting policy recommendations to foster more community bank lending.
Millennium State Bank of Texas Fails
The Texas Department of Banking on Thursday closed Dallas-based Millennium State Bank of Texas, the first bank failure in Texas this year and the first in the Dallas area in more than a decade.
Report: Bank of America Retains Top Bank Ranking
Bank of America Corp. is the largest U.S. bank based on first-quarter assets of $2.32 trillion, according to a report by research firm SNL Financial. The Charlotte-based company is also the largest bank in Austin by total assets.
Texans Sound Off on Economy, Politicians
The majority of Texas voters surveyed in a bipartisan study released by the Texas Credit Union League have indicated that the economy and jobs are the top issues facing the state and Texas voters.
Rep. Hensarling: GM TARP Funds Will Be Probed
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, says he is concerned about the disparate treatment of different classes of bond holders as Troubled Asset Relief Program funds are distributed.
Plano Executive Posted to OTS Committee
The Office of Thrift Supervision has appointed Gary Base, who leads ViewPoint Financial Group and subsidiary ViewPoint Bank, to a two-year term on the Mutual Savings Association Advisory Committee.
Nation's Banks Rebound to Profit
Texas institutions fared better than the nation as a whole, producing a collected $277 million in net income in the first quarter, down 20% from last year's $345 million first-quarter profit.
PlainsCapital Launches Wealth Management Group
Banks are in a belt-tightening mood as the recession lingers on, but PlainsCapital Bank officials said the Dallas-based financial services company is expanding its focus to cater to an industry that has become increasingly important in the area and the state.
Guaranty Misses Deadline with Federal Regulators
Austin-based Guaranty Financial Group Inc. missed a Thursday deadline set by federal regulators to submit a strategy for its future.
Texas Capital Appoints Houston Executive
Texas Capital Bank has hired Bill Wilson as president of the Houston region. He will focus on corporate and business banking development.
Report: Texas Banks Outperform the Others
A new report from merger and acquisitions advisory firm Sheshunoff and Co. Investment Banking says Texas banks are outperforming the rest in the nation despite the economic downturn.
MetroCorp Bank Executive Resigns
According to a regulatory filing, Mitchell Kitayama tendered his resignation as chief executive and vice chairman of California-based Metro United Bank, a unit of Houston-based MetroCorp.
Exec in Stanford Fraud Case Pleads Not Guilty
The chief investment officer of Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford's companies pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges stemming from the first indictment in the federal government's investigation of the troubled financial firm.
Foreclosure Sales Pull Down Dallas-Fort Worth Home Prices
Local home prices have been falling for more than a year as the nationwide housing downturn has spread to Texas.
Stanford Bank Sold in Venezuela for $111.6M
A bank previously controlled by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford was auctioned off Friday for about $111.6 million to Venezuela's Banco Nacional de Credito.
JPMorgan Chase Approves $6.4 Billion in Loans in Texas
JPMorgan Chase extended more than 300,000 new loans and lines of credit totaling almost $6.4 billion to individuals and businesses throughout Texas during the first quarter of this year.
Thomas Properties Swings to Q1 Loss
The Los Angeles-based commercial real estate company, which is the largest owner of prime office space in Austin, reported a loss of $174,000, or a penny a share, for the quarter that ended March 31.
Zillow: Almost One in Five Dallas Homeowners "Upside Down"
At the end of the first quarter, about 17 percent of D-FW-area mortgage holders owe more than their house is worth, according to new numbers from Zillow.com.
Advocacy Group Protests Foreclosure Auction
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now protested during the monthly foreclosure auction in downtown Houston Tuesday, hoping to stop the sale of foreclosed homes and call attention to the plight of strapped homeowners. ACORN held other protests in Dallas, El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley.
Texas Cities Struggle with Vacant Buildings
Officials are taking a renewed interest in vacant properties as they become more common in this recession. "One of the worst things you can have in your neighborhood is a boarded-up building," said the director of Fort Worth's code enforcement department.
Fort Worth Hotels, Events Buck National Meeting Trends
With AIG's lavish executive business trips still fresh in memory, national and local meetings and events organizations have been forced to step up their marketing efforts to let businesses know it's still OK to meet.
DFW Builders Finding Construction Costs Lower
Dallas housing analyst Ted Wilson of Residential Strategies Inc. said that there are savings in most materials and labor costs. "Lumber is down, as are steel and petroleum-based products. Most prices are down 5 percent to 10 percent."
USAA Subsidiary Sells $95 Million Worth of Debt
USAA Capital Corp. issued $95 million worth of notes that will be used for general corporate purposes.
IberiaBank Builds Houston Team
The Louisiana bank with assets of $5.6 billion is rounding up a team of bankers with plans to open several Houston branches within an 18-month period.
Texas Instruments Sues Three Banks Over ARS
The Dallas-based chipmaker has sued Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. for selling it $524 million in auction-rate securities that were supposed to be as good as cash but turned out to be impossible to sell.
Prudence Helps Spanish Bank Grow Despite Crisis
Francisco Gonzalez, chairman and chief executive officer of BBVA, recently spoke with the Houston Chronicle about his bank's plans for Texas, among other things.
Most Texas Banks Are Weathering Storm
The horror-show headlines are impossible to escape: the U.S. economy is in its worst shape since the Great Depression. That harsh reality has struck Texas, too. But it has not been as bad here as in many parts of the country — and some Texas banks are thriving despite the turmoil.
Commercial Foreclosure Postings Jump 14%
Foreclosure filings on Dallas-Fort Worth commercial properties are up 14 percent over last year, according to a new report from Foreclosure Listing Service Inc. The report looks at foreclosures scheduled for the first four months of 2009 compared to 2008.
Risk of Big Housing Price Drop Still Minimal
The risk of a home price decline in the Dallas-Fort Worth area crept up a bit in the final months of 2008. But the likelihood of lasting, significant drops in residential value here is still "minimal," according to the latest report from mortgage insurance firm PMI Group.
Legislators Again Seek Tighter Rules for Payday Loans
The Texas Legislature and Congress are once again seeking to rein in short-term lenders as economic conditions force more people to seek out a costly quick fix for financial emergencies.
IndyMac laying off 50 in Austin
Indymac Resources Inc., a subsidiary of IndyMac Bank, will cut 50 jobs in Austin over the next two months.
Deadline Looms for Guaranty
One day before a major deadline, Guaranty Financial Group Inc. is still working with federal regulators on an "alternative plans" to keep the Austin-based thrift company operating, a company official said.
Frost Bank Set to Open New Stone Ridge Branch
Frost Bank will open its newest full-service branch next month in North San Antonio in the Stone Ridge shopping center.
Houston Bank Expects to Leverage TARP Funds
Small banks such as Lone Star, in Houston, need the TARP capital simply to conduct day-to-day business, such as increasing a customer's line of credit or keeping money flowing ...
