First RepublicBank Corporation
Encyclopedia
This article is about the defunct bank
based in Dallas, Texas
. For the bank based in San Francisco, California
, see First Republic Bank
.
First Republic Bank Corporation was a bank that failed in 1988, during the savings and loan crisis. The company first opened as the Guaranty Bank and Trust Company in 1920, founded by a University of Texas law school alumnus named Eugene DeBogory. In 1922 when Guaranty obtained a national charter it assumed the name Republic National Bank of Dallas.
When the company began servicing farm and ranch loans, it was required to establish a Texas subsidiary, Republic Trust and Savings Bank, to comply with regulations governing national banks at the time. In 1928 the regulations changed, allowing the state-chartered Republic Trust and Savings Bank to be merged back into the parent company, forming the Republic National Bank and Trust Company.
During the next decade Republic acquired North Texas National Bank, and invested in several other Texas banks during the banking crisis of the 1933. In 1938 the name changed again back to Republic National Bank of Dallas. By 1948 Republic had grown to become the largest bank in Texas. In the 1980s, toward the tail end of a lengthy period of expansion and acquisition, Republic acquired the Houston National Bank and held a substantial portfolio of loans to the real estate industry in Texas.
In the late 1980s Savings and Loan crisis
, Texas in general and Republic's loan portfolio in particular was hit hard by real estate devaluation. In efforts to remain solvent Republic merged with Interfirst Bank, also based in Dallas, resulting in the First Republic Bank Corporation. The combined First Republic Bank was unable to weather the downturn and was shuttered within a year, in what was at the time the largest bank failure in US history. In 1989-1990 NCNB Corporation acquired First Republic from the FDIC
, and in 1991 changed its name to NationsBank
.
Texas Monthly, May 1974.
U.S. News and World Report, August 15, 1988.
Who's Who in the South and Southwest, Vol 2.
H. Harold Wineburgh, The Texas Banker: The Life and Times of Fred Farrel Florence (Dallas, 1981).
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
based in Dallas, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. For the bank based in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, see First Republic Bank
First Republic Bank
First Republic Bank is a bank and wealth management company offering personal banking, business banking, trust and wealth management services. The bank specializes in delivering personalized relationship-based service through preferred banking or trust offices on the US East and West Coasts,...
.
First Republic Bank Corporation was a bank that failed in 1988, during the savings and loan crisis. The company first opened as the Guaranty Bank and Trust Company in 1920, founded by a University of Texas law school alumnus named Eugene DeBogory. In 1922 when Guaranty obtained a national charter it assumed the name Republic National Bank of Dallas.
When the company began servicing farm and ranch loans, it was required to establish a Texas subsidiary, Republic Trust and Savings Bank, to comply with regulations governing national banks at the time. In 1928 the regulations changed, allowing the state-chartered Republic Trust and Savings Bank to be merged back into the parent company, forming the Republic National Bank and Trust Company.
During the next decade Republic acquired North Texas National Bank, and invested in several other Texas banks during the banking crisis of the 1933. In 1938 the name changed again back to Republic National Bank of Dallas. By 1948 Republic had grown to become the largest bank in Texas. In the 1980s, toward the tail end of a lengthy period of expansion and acquisition, Republic acquired the Houston National Bank and held a substantial portfolio of loans to the real estate industry in Texas.
In the late 1980s Savings and Loan crisis
Savings and Loan crisis
The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s was the failure of about 747 out of the 3,234 savings and loan associations in the United States...
, Texas in general and Republic's loan portfolio in particular was hit hard by real estate devaluation. In efforts to remain solvent Republic merged with Interfirst Bank, also based in Dallas, resulting in the First Republic Bank Corporation. The combined First Republic Bank was unable to weather the downturn and was shuttered within a year, in what was at the time the largest bank failure in US history. In 1989-1990 NCNB Corporation acquired First Republic from the FDIC
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. It provides deposit insurance, which guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, currently up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. , the FDIC insures deposits at...
, and in 1991 changed its name to NationsBank
NationsBank
NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1998, it acquired BankAmerica to become Bank of America.-Corporate history:...
.
External links
Further reading
New York Times, July 29, 1989.Texas Monthly, May 1974.
U.S. News and World Report, August 15, 1988.
Who's Who in the South and Southwest, Vol 2.
H. Harold Wineburgh, The Texas Banker: The Life and Times of Fred Farrel Florence (Dallas, 1981).