Comerica Inc. has dropped its plan to pursue a national bank charter as its planned move to Texas nears.
The longtime Detroit company announced March 6 that it was moving its headquarters to Dallas, and that it had applied with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to convert its Comerica Bank from a Michigan state charter to a national one.
But Texas Banking Commissioner Randall James revealed Friday at a meeting of state’s Finance Commission that the $58.6 billion-asset company has withdrawn its application for a national charter and has applied for a Texas state one.
Sara Snyder, a Comerica spokeswoman, confirmed its decision in an interview Friday.
“We believe it’s an excellent way to further differentiate ourselves from other financial institutions in the state, and because of the strong welcome we’ve received from Texas,” she said.
Mr. James said Comerica’s addition would increase the assets under supervision by Texas regulators by 67%, to $144 billion. “This is a big deal for Texas, the banking department, and our staff.”
The Texas Department of Banking will need to add about 14 positions to supervise Comerica, he said.
Loren Svor, a corporate analyst with the department, told the commission the charter change could be done in less than a month.
Last week Comerica said it had secured five floors of office space in the Bank One Center, a 60-story Dallas office tower whose name will change to the Comerica Bank Tower. (JPMorgan Chase & Co., which bought Bank One Corp. in 2004, agreed to move out of the building this year and to terminate the last three years of its lease.)
Comerica plans to have its executives at its new headquarters by the end of the quarter, but employees will continue to be transferred to Dallas over the next three years.
