The Michigan League of Community Banks and the Michigan Bankers Association are finally tying the knot.
The two began merger discussions 18 months ago and said this week that they plan to make it official April 1. On that day the league's 21 members will become members of the bankers association, said Robert G. Howell, president of the League of Community Banks.
He said they are combining because they are no longer on opposite sides of most issues and because company mergers and acquisitions have been shrinking their enrollment. The expanded group will have 191 members.
"We've discussed it long enough that everyone thought it was the right thing to do," Mr. Howell said.
Donald C. Heikkinen, the staff counsel for the Michigan Bankers Association, said, "Both of our members approached us and said, Doesn't it make sense to join forces?"
Mr. Howell said negotiations stalled in early 2002 while the bankers association's newly elected president, Dennis R. Koons, got settled. Mr. Howell said his group never considered merging with the Michigan Association of Community Bankers.
Gary Fields, the director of the state association division at the American Bankers Association, said banking groups have merged in more than 20 states. The consolidations, which do not affect the ABA's relations with members, often result in stronger groups, he said.
Mergers have come about as the interests of thrifts and banks become increasingly similar, Mr. Fields said. "The associations mirror the industries they represent."
Since 2000 there have been at least half a dozen such mergers: the Indiana League of Financial Institutions merged into the Indiana Bankers Association in January 2000, the Oregon League of Financial Institutions into the Oregon Bankers Association in February 2001, the Community Bank League of New England into the Massachusetts Bankers Association in June 2001, the Western League of Savings Institutions into the California Bankers Association in September 2001, and the Ohio League of Financial Institutions into the Ohio Bankers Association in October 2001. And last May the Independent Bankers Association of Texas and the Community Bankers Association of Oklahoma formed what is believed to be the first cross-state alliance.
