Capitol deal frees up capital

By Nicole Lucht (contact), In Business reporter

Fri, Jul 24, 2009 (3 a.m.)

Capitol Bancorp is banking on the sale of 1st Commerce Bank to help it better spread its capital and resources to the four community banks it owns in Las Vegas.

Capitol owns Black Mountain, Desert and Red Rock community banks and Bank of Las Vegas. The affiliates have combined assets of $500 million.

Capitol has a network of 56 separately chartered banks in 17 states.

The sale is part of a broader acquisition that includes the 21 branch offices operated by Colonial Bank in Nevada.

Mark Daigle, regional president of Colonial’s operations, is a leader in the acquisition of the bank’s state branches to Global Consumer Acquisition Corp., a company formed specifically for the transaction.

Colonial’s branches will be renamed 1st Commerce Bank and the merged banks will fall under the leadership of Western Liberty Bancorp, formed as part of these acquisitions.

The sale is expected to be finished during the third quarter.

Financial crisis commission includes Las Vegans

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed two Las Vegans, Nevada Cancer Institute founder Heather Murren and Byron Georgiou, president of Georgiou Enterprises, to a 10-member commission that will explore the causes of the financial crisis.

Murren retired in 2002 as managing director of Merrill Lynch’s global securities research and economics division.

Georgiou serves on the advisory board of Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance.

The commission will look at the role of fraud and abuse in the financial sector, state and federal regulatory enforcement, tax treatment of financial products, credit rating agencies, lending practices and securitization, unregulated financial products and practices, and corporate governance and executive compensation. The commission will examine why the major financial institutions that failed or were likely to fail if they had not received a government bailout.

Others on the commission, appointed by Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are former California Treasurer Phil Angelides, the commission’s chairman; Brooksley Born, former chairwoman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission; former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla.; and John W. Thompson, chairman of Symantec Corp., a security software provider.

House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky appointed former Rep. Bill Thomas of California; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office; Peter Wallison, co-director for Financial Policy Studies at American Enterprise Institute; Keith Hennessey, former assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council.

The commission’s report is due Dec. 15, 2010.

Wells Fargo, Wachovia give back

As a combined company, Wells Fargo and Wachovia gave Nevada nonprofit organizations $2.5 million in 2008, the company announced.

Employees volunteered 27,000 hours to promote financial literacy in schools and colleges, as well as building a Habitat for Humanity home, a Rebuilding Together home renovation, community cleanups, fundraising activities and community events across the state.

Students, bank effect change

Five Las Vegas high school students and recent graduates visited Washington to take part in Bank of America Charitable Foundation’s Student Leadership Summit.

The weeklong summit aimed to inspire students to serve their communities and effect change. The summit brought 230 civic-minded high school juniors and seniors from across the country to be part of Bank of America’s philanthropic program, Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.

Las Vegans participating were Kellie Brunty, a Silverado High School graduate; Shannon Larson, a Spring Valley senior; Laura McGarry, a Bishop Gorman graduate; Matthew Phillips, a Palo Verde graduate; and Kate Wakeman, an Advanced Technologies Academy senior.

The summit, which ended July 24, included meetings on Capitol Hill to focus on the recently passed Serve America Act, a financial literacy policy discussion, a large-scale, environmental service learning volunteer activity with the National Park Foundation, and community tours of Washington.

The Las Vegas students will intern at Boys and Girls Club of Las Vegas.

Another bank acquired by Zions

A sister company of Nevada State Bank acquired the banking operations of Vineyard Bank, after California and federal regulators seized the bank July 17.

California Bank & Trust, a subsidiary of Zions Bancorp, took over Vineyard’s $1.4 billion in loans and $1.5 billion of insured and uninsured deposits.

In the past year, Nevada State Bank has acquired failed Silver State Bank and Great Basin Bank of Nevada.

Nicole Lucht covers health care, workplace, energy and banking issues for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at 259-8832 or at nicole.lucht@lasvegassun.com.