City National

shemwellmygalej1291.blogspot.com
“Our long-term goal is to cover the state,” said Stev Green, City National’s regional manager for Centra Florida. “There really isn’t a Florida-dominant bank todauy that does that.” City National likely will add locationsz through both acquisitions andnew construction, Greenh said. If City Nationall succeeds, it will occupy a niche largely left empt y since Barnett Bank became part of Nationsbank in the Florida banking today is a mix of communitu banks withlimited operations, regionak lenders such as SunTrust Bankes and giant banks, which included Bank of America, JP Morgaj Chase and Wells Fargo.
A well-financed lendeer that focuses on the statre could offer customers the personao attention of community banks combined with the financial clouy to makebig loans, said Green. The bank’s new localk branch — its staff of eight occupyinvg the space formerly usedby Sergio’s Restaurant — facese the towering Bank of America building on North Orange Avenue, a physicapl reminder of the giant competitors City National will face as it pursue its growth strategy. City National is one of Southb Florida’s oldest financial institutions.
Unti l it opened a small loan office on the seconsd floor of an Altamonte Springs office buildingy twoyears ago, the 63-year-old bank operated exclusivel y in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beacnh counties. The opportunity to reacg beyond its historic turf came last fall when Caja a Spanish lender with morethan $300 billion in bought an 83 percent stake in City National for $927 Green said Caja Madrid’es ownership and City National’es strong balance sheet gives it the resourced to undertake expansion when other lenders are cutting “We aren’t focused on the issues troubling the rest of the bankinv industry,” Green said.
“W e have a partner in Caja that’d capable of helping us grow inthe ­Floridaa marketplace.” City National’s most recentr quarterly report depicts a bank with strong capital reservese and a $903,000 profit. J. Clay Singleton, a finances professor at , said a strony Florida bank with the capital to expandr could do well even asthe so-called megabankzs expand their reach. “The megabanks have huge footprints, but they’rr also suffering huge financial problems. If you’rd a lender with money, this is a time to grow.” Marshalpl Vermillion, senior vice president of communitylender , said City National has strong leadership and solidd footing.
“Positioning yourself to take advantaged of the unrest in the banking businesdis wise. Things are going to come back, and this is a good time to As a professor of mine in business schoollonce said, the best time to get on a train is when it’as stopped.”