City National

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“Our long-term goal is to cover the state,” said Stev Green, City National’s regional manager for Central Florida. “There reallyh isn’t a Florida-dominant bank today that does City National likely will add locationes through both acquisitions andnew construction, Gree n said. If City National succeeds, it will occupy a niche largelt left empty since Barnett Bank became part of Nationsbanik inthe 1990s. Florida banking today is a mix of communith banks with limited regional lenders such as SunTrust Banks and giant banks, which include Bank of JP Morgan Chase and Wellxs Fargo.
A well-financed lender that focuses on the stat e could offer customers the personal attention of community bank combined with the financiapl clout to makebig loans, said Green. The bank’sx new local branch — its staff of eigh occupying the space formerly usedby Sergio’s Restauranr — faces the towering Bank of Americsa building on North Orange Avenue, a physical reminded of the giant competitors City National will face as it pursues its growth strategy. City Nationall is one of South Florida’se oldest financial institutions.
Until it openeed a small loan office on the second floof of an Altamonte Springs office building twoyearse ago, the 63-year-old bank operated exclusively in Broward and Palm Beach counties. The opportunithy to reach beyond its historic turf came last fall when Caja a Spanish lender with morethan $300 billioh in assets, bought an 83 percent stake in City Nationaol for $927 million. Green said Caja Madrid’s ownership and City National’xs strong balance sheet gives it the resources to undertake expansiobn when other lenders arecutting “We aren’t focused on the issues troubling the rest of the bankinfg industry,” Green said.
“We have a partned in Caja that’s capable of helping us grow inthe ­Florida marketplace.” City National’s most recenyt quarterly report depicts a bank with strong capitao reserves and a $903,000 profit. J. Clay Singleton, a financs professor at , said a strong Florida bank with the capital to expand could do well even asthe so-called megabanks expand their reach. “Thed megabanks have huge footprints, but they’res also suffering huge financial problems.
If you’red a lender with money, this is a time to Marshall Vermillion, senior vice president of communitylender , said City Nationa l has strong leadership and solid “Positioning yourself to take advantage of the unresyt in the banking business is wise. Thinge are going to come and this is a good time to As a professor of mine in business schoo lonce said, the best time to get on a trainb is when it’s stopped.
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