CAN THE LONE-STAR BANKERS SURVIVE THE SQUEEZE?
Need a Porsche? Want an Arabian horse? Just deposit a little in a Texan bank.
The lower that oil prices fall, the more difficult it becomes for Texan banks to keep deposits on their books. And the premiums they have been offering to depositors-- including high-grade horses and cars--are a sign of how anxious the once-proud Texan banker has become.
Another is the way in which the banks of Texas are anxious to tell the world about the underlying strength of their institutions.
Marc Shapiro, 38, the vice chairman and chief financial officer of Texas Commerce Bancshares in Houston, said: "Our equity capital is 6.2%. That's the highest of any major bank in he US. We have the capital to survive, whatever happens.'
Shapiro and his colleagues in Dallas and Houston are truly being put to the test. Problem loans for Texan banks have increased from $2.5 billion at the end of 1983 to $3.7 billion at the end of last year. Banks like Texas Commerce, that once boasted the highest return on assets of any major US bank at 1% or more, are now having to put up with 0.27%