Arkansas
State Bank Department

State Banking Board

Meeting Minutes for September 26, 2006

(updated August 9, 2007)

     A special meeting of the State Banking Board was held in the conference room of the Arkansas State Bank Department, 400 Hardin Road, Suite 100, Little Rock, Arkansas, at 10:00 a.m. on September 26, 2006.  The following Board Members were present:  Chairman Charles Mazander, Vice Chairman David Short, Marcus McCain, John Freeman, and Elmer Flucht.  Representing the State Bank Department were Commissioner Bunny Adcock, Deputy Commissioners Luther Guinn and Candace Franks, Chief Examiner Wilks Marshall, Financial Analyst Supervisor Susannah Marshall and Administrative Assistants II Barbara Mahoney and Devan Adair.  Shyloa Myers from Bushman Court Reporting was the recording reporter for the applicants.  No representatives from the media were present.

            State Bank Commissioner, Bunny Adcock, called this special meeting of the State Banking Board.  Notice of the special meeting was sent by regular mail to each member of the State Banking Board on August 21, 2006.  The notice was also given to the news media in accordance with state law.

            Commissioner Adcock opened the meeting.  Secretary Luther Guinn declared a quorum was present.  Commissioner Adcock then asked the visitors and guest to stand and introduce themselves and state who they represent.  He then turned the meeting over to Chairman Charles Mazander.  

           First on the agenda was consideration of the Minutes of the April 20, 2006, Regular Board Meeting.  A motion was made by John Freeman, seconded by David Short, to approve the Minutes as presented.  Motion carried and the Commissioner concurred.

          

Next was the approval of expenses for the Board.  A motion was made by David Short, seconded by Marcus McCain, to approve the Board’s expenses.  Motion carried and the Commissioner concurred.

           Next on the Agenda was an application by First National Bank of DeWitt, DeWitt, Arkansas to convert to a state-chartered bank to be known as  Arkansas County Bank and an application by Arkansas County Bank ( First National Bank of DeWitt Conversion) DeWitt, Arkansas, to merge First National Bank of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Arkansas, with and  into Arkansas County Bank, DeWitt, Arkansas.  Randy Dennis with DD&F Consulting Group, Little Rock, Arkansas represented the applications.  Mr. Dennis stated that the first application to convert is fairly simple and is just converting from an national to a state bank.  Mr. Dennis stated that the second transaction where the two companies would merge would be a stock transaction with cash involved.  He further stated that the transaction made a lot of sense that it would combine the organization and consolidate expenses.  Mr. Warren Jennings, Sr. stated that he had worked with individuals from the bank department in the past and liked the helpful attitude displayed, the departmental staff understanding of the agriculture loan situation in the Delta, and the accessibility of the Bank Commissioner.  Mr. Jennings also stated that the merger would provide better and some additional banking services to both DeWitt and Stuttgart.  Mr. John Freeman asked what percentage of the loan portfolios was agriculture related.  Mr. Warren Jennings, Sr. stated over 35 percent in DeWitt.  Mr. Warren Jennings, Jr. stated in Stuttgart straight agriculture production around 28 to 30 percent.  Mr. Marc McCain stated that consolidating offices made a lot of economic sense and wanted to know about asset quality and plans to maintain good asset quality.  Mr. Warren Jennings, Sr. stated that they like to be proactive rather than reactive they do cash flows on farm borrowers.  He also stated that two large farmers declared bankruptcy and the farms are up for sale.  Mr. McCain asked about the loan approval process for larger loans.  Both Mr. Jennings’ acknowledged having a loan discount committee.  Mr. Charles Mazander stated that DeWitt had a higher level of loan problems than Stuttgart.  Mr. Warren Jennings, Sr.

stated that DeWitt has a bunch of classified carryover loans.  He further stated that he did not feel that a carryover was a substandard loan if the borrower had the ability to repay and you have real estate as collateral.  Mr. David Short asked if anyone from the department had comments regarding the applications, Deputy Commissioner Candace Franks stated that the agency has been familiar with the Jennings family for many years and that we were very comfortable with the status of the banks at this time.  A motion was made by Mr. David Short seconded by Elmer Flucht to approve the conversion application, the motion carried and the Commissioner concurred.  A motion was made by Mr. John Freeman and seconded by Mr. David Short to approve the merger application, the motion carried and the Commissioner concurred.

                        No further business the meeting adjourned.

 

 

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