The two banking trade groups in Texas are talking about merging, though observers say a deal is far from imminent and likely will not happen without a fight.
The executive committees of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas and the Texas Bankers Association are planning to meet with their respective boards today to lay out the case for a merger, said Chris Williston, the IBAT’s president and chief executive officer. But he said the process was a long way from completion, and he expects some of his group’s members to oppose it.
“This is very emotional. There were serious discussions about seven or eight years ago. It was highly emotionally charged then, and it is no different now,” Mr. Williston said.
Count Robert S. Shivers, the chairman and CEO of the $284 million-asset Southwest Bank of Texas in Fort Worth, among those who oppose a merger. In his view, the Texas Bankers Association does not represent the interest of small banks. “They always did what the big banks wanted them to do,” said Mr. Shivers, who is so adamantly opposed to a merger that he says the IBAT executive committee members who proposed it should be forced to resign.
Mr. Williston did not offer an opinion on whether the groups should merge; he said the decision rests with the members of each group.
With the number of banks and thrifts steadily shrinking, competing trade groups in many states have been joining forces in recent years rather than continuing to battle each other for members. Most recently, trade groups in Louisiana and New York have announced plans to merge, and the two banking groups in New Jersey said they are in merger talks.
Mr. Williston said that the IBAT’s executive committee approached the Texas Bankers’ executive committee last summer, and that talks have been going on for the past 60 days. The two committees are considering the merger so that banks can present a united front when lobbying in Austin or Washington, he said.
“In terms of trying to maintain a strong, effective voice for Texas banking, does it make sense in a consolidating industry to put these two groups together in a way that doesn’t lose community banks’ voice in the process?” Mr. Williston said.
The fact that all the current members of the Texas Bankers’ executive committee are community bankers gave the IBAT’s board more confidence that the groups could conduct a merger that would preserve the community banker’s voice, he said.
The merger talks that took place eight years ago began when Robert E. Harris, then the Texas Bankers’ CEO, died, Mr. Williston said. Those talks happened at a time of crisis for the Texas Bankers, but this time both groups are strong and can approach the deal without as much emotion, he said.
Mr. Shivers, though, has plenty of emotion about the talks. He said the IBAT’s executive committee will have a difficult time selling the merger to its members.
“I don’t think it is going to happen,” he said. “Several members of the executive committee did this on their own. War is getting ready to break out.”
