Two of the top positions at the Texas Savings and Mortgage Department will be vacant soon.
Danny Payne, the department’s commissioner, and John Fleming, its general counsel, have announced plans to re-enter the private sector.
Mr. Fleming will resign Nov. 30, and Mr. Payne will resign Dec. 31. Both have been with the department for the past four years.
Mr. Payne said the shortage of experienced bankers in Texas, combined with the recent mortgage credit crunch, makes now the perfect time to get back into the lending business. He has about 38 years of banking and mortgage lending experience.
“With every market correction and downturn we are seeing now, … a new opportunity will result,” said Mr. Payne, 61. “I want to be in a position, when those opportunities present themselves, to take advantage of it.”
He also said he hopes to continue to serve the government and may apply to be a governor’s appointee on the state Finance Commission.
Mr. Fleming’s assistant said he was unavailable for comment by press time.
Eric Sandberg, a consultant with the Texas Bankers Association and the former president of the Texas Savings and Community Bankers Association before the two trade groups merged last year, said both men were instrumental in shaping mortgage regulation in Texas, which began requiring registration of mortgage brokers only in 2004.
“It’s a loss anytime you lose your top two people,” he said. “However, I do believe the people who serve under both the parties that are leaving are capable, and the department is in good hands.”
Bankers credit Mr. Payne and his staff members for the dramatic increase in interest in the state savings bank charter in the past. About a dozen banks have either applied or received a state savings bank charter this year. Before that only six state savings banks had opened in the state since the beginning of 2000, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.
The $150 million-asset Independent Bank of Austin chose the charter when it opened in 2005, and it worked closely with the department during the charter process. Denny Buchanan, Independent’s president, said Mr. Payne and his staff provided significant help during the chartering process.
“Danny and his staff helped from day one,” Mr. Buchanan said. “He and his staff have always been very, very fair to us, and we needed that in the beginning as a de novo.”
The $26 million-asset Libertad Bank in Austin, which opened in early 2006 and targets the Hispanic community, also the state savings bank charter.
“We have really enjoyed working with Commissioner Payne,” said Erik Beguin, a founder and executive vice president of Libertad. “His willingness to take the extra time to share his extensive experience with us as an adviser has served as a tremendous resource for us in both the creation and successful growth of Libertad Bank.”
