The Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT) announced two new additions to the IBAT Wall of Heroes and Legends of Texas Community Banking located at the organization’s headquarters in downtown Austin: Milton McGee and Peter Weinstock. The Wall of Heroes and Legends is reserved for special individuals who have contributed significantly to the strength of community banking in Texas. This year’s honors were bestowed in September at IBAT’s 49th Annual Convention in Frisco.
After serving as a certified public accountant for Arthur Andersen & Co. and Bradley, Heller & Co. in the 1970s, McGee began his banking career with Republic Bank Henderson, eventually serving as president and CEO in Brownwood. He went on to hold top executive positions with NCNB Texas NA, Kilgore Federal Savings and Loan Association and Citizens National Bank. He was also president and CEO of Citizens National Bank’s holding companies, Henderson Citizens Bancshares and HCB Inc., retiring from there in 2012 as vice chairman of the board. After his long-term career with Citizens National Bank, he went on to serve as president and CEO of Texas Leadership Bank in Royse City until 2015. McGee currently is a bank consultant in East Texas.
McGee’s commitment to community banking led him to serve as chairman of the board of The Independent Bankers Bank, chairman of the board of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas and board member of the Texas Bankers Association. From 2010 to 2015, he served as IBAT ambassador of goodwill/advisor to management on a part-time basis. McGee currently serves as a director for Mills County State Bank and advisory director for multiple banks in East Texas. He serves on the board of trustees of Howard Payne University and in leadership roles with the Henderson Industrial Trust and Henderson Memorial Hospital, among other organizations. He is a former president of the Rusk County Chamber of Commerce and a board member of the Henderson Economic Development Corp.
McGee was the recipient of the 1983 John R. Alford Award for the “Outstanding Young Man of the Year” and the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award for Rusk County. In 2017, McGee was inducted into the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.
McGee’s plaque on the IBAT Wall of Heroes and Legends reads: “Milton McGee is the epitome of community banker, a Christ-like leader in all he does. He lives by the Golden Rule and practices what he preaches!”
Weinstock, partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP in Dallas, focuses on strategic planning, bank compensation, fintechs, banking as a service and defense of enforcement matters, including fair lending and BSA. He is the co-practice group leader of the firm’s financial institutions section. Weinstock has counseled institutions on more than 400 mergers and acquisitions, hundreds of securities offerings, capital planning, more than 50 de novo banks and hundreds of administrative and other enforcement actions.
Weinstock has authored numerous articles in banking publications. His article “Acquisitions of Failed Banks: Present Risk and Opportunity,” was honored by The RMA Journal in 2011 as the second best article for that year. For the 22 years during its existence ending in 2019, Weinstock served as co-editor of the Independent Community Bankers of America’s (ICBA) newsletter, Subchapter S: The Next Generation. He has spoken at hundreds of trade group and banking industry conferences and seminars, including at ICBA’s annual conference over the past 13 years and as a guest lecturer for Harvard’s Kennedy School of Public Policy in Beijing, China
Weinstock’s plaque on the IBAT Wall of Heroes and Legends reads: “Peter Weinstock exemplifies the vision for the future of community banking while defending its great strength in history. A preeminent attorney for community bankers in Texas and across the United States, your clients and friends in the community banking industry thank you for more than 35 years of unparalleled service.”
