Wells' hand shines as banks play high-stakes Texas poker - Denver Business Journal:

gorbunovabowiper.blogspot.com
In addition to the San Francisco bank's crown jewel -- it's status as California's second-largestr bank -- Wells Fargo's strength in states such as Texas bodes well forthe company's long-ter m prospects. Texas is hot righft now, in more ways than one. Prospects for surging populationhgrowth -- and the depositxs that accompany such growthb -- has bankers eager to expand in that struck a deal last month to finallg enter Texas retail banking with the purchase of in Texas. No, that's not a typo. The nation's largest bank with $1.19o trillion in assets made its Texas debutg with the purchase of a bankwith $3.5 billionm in assets and 102 branches.
The deal gives Citigrouop a deposit market share ofjust 0.8 percent in By comparison, Wells Fargo holds 7.7 percent of Texas making it that state's third-largest The combined J.P. Morgan Chase- holds a 23.7 percengt share of deposits, and comes in secondd with 12.3 percent, according to SNL , eager to take its huge East Coast franchise intothe West, said in Februar that it planned to build a Texazs branch network from the ground up, startintg with 150 branches by 2008. That sounds more like a move a bank makeas when its merger overtures havebeen rebuffed. based in Charlotte, N.C., has since announced plans to acquire Alabama's SouthTrustt for $13.
7 billion, which includes 60 Texas giving Wachoviaa 0.7 percent It's no wonder that Wachovia's fledglinfg efforts to go West fuel speculatiob on a Wachovia-Wells Fargo combinatioj occurring some day. Wells Fargo CEO Dick Kovacevich has consistentl y denied any ambitions for seeingthe bank'a ubiquitous stage coach traveling up the Atlantix Coast. But recent Texas deals that generated as much enthusiasmas warmed-u p leftovers show just how valuable Wells Fargo's western franchisw is becoming.
Bank of Marin addex another woman toits board, bringinf female representation in the boardroom to 20 The bank elected Jan an entrepreneur and former journalist, to its board of Her entrepreneurial pursuits include Media and Marketing Strategicc Planning as well as bein a founding partner of Fair which provides college and career guidance for young women, and Thrivinb Together, a business that seeks to inspire womenn in the areas of business, family and "She is highly recognizable in the communitty and will provide a unique perspectiver to our board," said Judy a longtime board member who was elected chairmanh last year.
It also doesn't hurt for competitivee reasons to have more women in the boarfd room as the bank goes up againstf rapidly expanding and Epic parent ofTamalpais Bank. Both banks are run by Circle is run byKimberly Petrini, and Epic is led by her Kit Cole. But Bank of Marin, with about half its executivre suites filledwith women, downplayed the idea that it searched for a womahn to fill the board seat. "It'w a matter of getting the best people on the aspokeswoman said. Investors will do well to remember that actionsd speak louder than words in assessing the outlook for the stock advisesJames Paulsen, chief investment strategist for , a unit of Wells Fargo.