TEXAS BANKING NEWS, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
TEXAS BANKING NEWS, PEOPLE AND IDEAS
Neil Ferguson 
On November 20, the board of Abilene-based First Financial Bankshares Inc. announced promotions for First Financial Bankshares and First Financial Bank. These promotions—part of the company’s ongoing management succession plan the board has been working on for several years—will be effective January 1, 2025. Ron Butler II was promoted to vice chair of the executive … Read more
On November 18, Natchitoches, Louisiana-based Grant Bancshares Inc., the holding company for BOM Bank, announced the completion of its acquisition of nine American State Bank locations across Texas. The acquired locations include branches in Haslam, Timpson, Center, Lufkin, Huntington, Chester and Conroe. With the expansion, BOM Bank now operates 26 branches and two operations facilities across … Read more
On November 21, Jacksonville-based Austin Bank and the Conroe/Lake Conroe Area Chambers of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new full-service banking center in Montgomery. The ceremony was well attended by both chambers and business leaders, the Austin Bank leadership team and employees, along with associates from the SLI Group … Read more
Representatives from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and eight of its members awarded $283,000 in grants to eight nonprofit organizations in Dallas and Fort Worth. The awards were part of more than $1.2 million awarded to community groups through the Partnership Grant Program (PGP) and were celebrated during an event on … Read more
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has named Jeff Bongiovanni vice president with responsibility for overseeing the regional bank supervision team. In his new role, he takes over a group responsible for a growing portfolio of 11th District state member banks and bank holding companies with assets between $10 billion and $100 billion. Bongiovanni joined the … Read more
On November 22, Dallas-based First Foundation Inc., the parent company of Irvine, California-based First Foundation Bank, announced the appointment of Thomas C. Shafer as chief executive officer. His appointment follows the retirement of Scott F. Kavanaugh, who has served as CEO since 2009 and as a member of the board of directors since 2007. Shafer … Read more
Dallas-based PlainsCapital Bank has hired Jorge Vernaza to serve as senior vice president/senior commercial loan officer on its Houston lending team. He will be based at the bank’s Richmond Ave. location. Vernaza has a strong background in both commercial real estate and commercial and industrial, with former clients across various sectors and sub-sectors of the … Read more
After more than a year in temporary offices, Elgin-based Frontier Bank is relocating to a full-service Georgetown location on E. University Ave. The new facility marks the fourth full-service Williamson County location for Frontier Bank and the 12th overall for the Central Texas bank. Other Williamson County communities already served by the bank include Leander, … Read more
By Craig Brown, Clint Irvin, Jeff Ulmer and Adam Wells Huron The breadth and depth of risks in the finance sector extend far beyond the realms of capital and liquidity. Credit, reputational, strategic, operational, compliance, information security, cybersecurity, third-party and business-continuity risks all fall under this expansive umbrella. Preemptive management of these risks is not … Read more
Clark Mercer has joined Dallas Capital Bank as senior vice president/director of compliance. He brings more than 32 years of banking experience with 22 years in compliance and risk management to his new role. He will be responsible for developing, implementing and administering all aspects of the bank’s compliance management program, including its BSA/AML program. … Read more