Banking Law

Thanks, But No Thanks

In what might very well turn out to be an extremely smart move, Texas-based Frost bank tells the US Treasury Department that it will pass on the handouts.

The parent company of Frost Bank won?t attempt to get a piece of the $70 billion government bailout of the financial sector.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. (NYSE:CFR), based in San Antonio, was the only top 10 Texas financial institution to survive the 1980s savings and loan crisis. It has weathered the current financial storm comparatively well, said Cullen/Frost Chairman and CEO Dick Evans in a written statement.

?Cullen/Frost is well capitalized now and for the foreseeable future, with sufficient capital to grow our business and take advantage of acquisition opportunities,? he stated.

Why any sane banker would forgo the opportunity to have Barney Frank and Chris Dodd micromanaging and second-guessing how you deploy your government-provided capital is beyond me, but Frost Bank must have its reasons. Perhaps they decided that they'd prefer having a hot poker shoved in their eye sockets. It would likely be a lot less painful process, and you'd die much more quickly and mercifully.

Full post as published by Bank Lawyers Blog on October 31, 2008 (boomark / email).