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Bank mergers, failures and charter consolidations are cutting into the exam fees that provide the financial lifeblood for regulators in Idaho, Montana and other states. Their attempts to balance the budget can cause small banks to pay higher fees.
October 10 -
A growing number of multibank holding companies have decided that cutting costs is more important than having a local face in certain communities.
June 14
Hancock Holding Co. (HBHC) in Gulfport, Miss., plans to consolidate its two charters but retain separate bank brands.
The $19.3 billion-asset company plans to merge its Hancock Bank and Whitney Bank subsidiaries in the first quarter of 2014, pending regulatory approval, it said Thursday. The consolidation is intended to reduce costs, Hancock said
The two brands would remain separate, Hancock said. The $12.7 billion-asset Whitney Bank operates in Louisiana and Texas and the $6.6 billion-asset Hancock Bank in Mississippi, Florida and Alabama.
"The consolidation, which supports our previously announced expense and efficiency initiative, will significantly reduce the considerable cost and complexity of maintaining two separate bank charters in this current regulatory environment," co-CEO Carl Chaney said in a press release.
Despite
Other cost-cutting efforts Hancock has undertaken this year include the closure of 26 branches on Aug. 30, and the