The banking sector is on the mend after being tattered by the financial crisis, but it still has a long way to go before
making a full recovery. That’s the consensus, judging from recent stock performances of the largest publicly
traded banks with a presence in Indianapolis.
Since people must have confidence in the financial system for it to function properly, it is incumbent upon our leaders to
take action and assure the people their money is safe.
A national study finds that many community banks continue to prosper.
When Sen. Chris Dodd decided to wage war on corporate excess, he had Wall Street fat cats in his sights, not people like Bob Jones, the folksy CEO of Old National Corp. in Evansville.
These businesses have received loans from financial institutions with a guarantee from the SBA.
Real estate holdings of the nonbank-branch variety are growing fast on bank balance sheets.
“I have no intention of retiring â?? now or ever,” said Steve Stitle, CEO of National City Bank in Indiana, after the bank
was purchased by PNC Financial.
A rural Indiana bank that specializes in farm lending has agreed to buy Symphony Bank for less than the ambitious startup
spent to build its extravagant branch on 96th Street.
Make your business look as attractive as possible to your banker because you are competing for financing with other small
businesses.
Local companies that rely on credit have seen their borrowing power shrink and in some cases disappear as a deep freeze
in the nation’s credit markets drives fears of a broad economic slowdown. A handful of businesses, including
a Greenwood security firm and an Indianapolis contractor, already have shut down after credit dried up,
and others are on the ropes as troubled banks seek to limit their loan exposure.
A Maryland company has taken ownership of downtown’s 28-story M&I Plaza just three months before a major tenant departure
leaves the skyscraper 70-percent vacant. The new owner is CapitalSource Inc., a commercial finance and investment firm based
in Chevy Chase, Md. It had been a lender to the former owner, which defaulted.
Indiana’s largest locally based bank, First Indiana Corp., decided to end 92 years of independence in 2007, agreeing in July
to sell itself to Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for $529 million in cash, or $32 a share.
Not-for-profits that banked on consistent support from the banker down the street can no longer count on a tip of the top
hat, thanks to ever-larger mergers among institutions that have changed the dynamic of their charitable giving.
At least 35 new bank branches have sprouted in Hamilton County in the last three years, and more are on the way. Familiar
names like Charter One and Chase have added eight and seven branches, respectively. Other institutions are entering the market.
Bank mergers have proven lucrative for local sign companies over the years. A string of mergers in the late 1980s and early
1990s wiped out the city’s three big national banks–American Fletcher, Merchants National and Indiana National. In the years
since, the industry has continued to consolidate, spawning a flurry of additional name changes.
