On April 24, Texas Banking Commissioner Charles G. Cooper announced that Abilene-based First Financial Bank National Association has completed its conversion to a Texas state-chartered bank from a national banking association. The bank began operating under its new charter as First Financial Bank on April 23.
In 1889, First Financial Bank was originally chartered as a national bank as First National Bank of Abilene. The name was changed to First Financial Bank NA in 2005. Its home office on Pine Street has remained unchanged since the original charter. The bank is wholly owned by First Financial Bankshares Inc., a publicly listed company traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
First Financial Bank enters the state banking system with approximately $13 billion in assets. Concurrently, bank affiliate Abilene-based First Financial Trust & Asset Management Co. NA, with $8 billion in assets under management, is converting from a national trust bank to a Texas trust company. No interruption or change will occur in the bank’s FDIC deposit insurance coverage.
In addition to its main office in Abilene, the bank operates 79 branches in 58 locations throughout Texas. F. Scott Dueser, chairman, CEO and president, continues to lead the bank’s executive team following the conversion.
“First Financial Bank has been providing its customers with financial services for 136 years. We welcome the bank and First Financial Trust & Asset Management Co. into the state banking system,” Cooper says.
