Simmons First To Consolidate Bank Charters
by March 5, 2014 9:48 pm 284 views
Simmons First National Corp. filed notice with the SEC that it would consolidate its seven subsidiary banks into a single banking organization.
Six of Simmons bank charters are currently organized as:
- Simmons First Bank of Northeast Arkansas
- Simmons First Bank of Searcy
- Simmons First Bank of Hot Springs
- Simmons First Bank of Russellville
- Simmons First Bank of South Arkansas
- Simmons First Bank of El Dorado
Those six charters will be merged into Simmons First National Bank, headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
The consolidation will occur in two phases, the bank said.
The banks located in Jonesboro, Searcy and Hot Springs will be consolidated into Simmons First National Bank in May 2014 with the remaining banks being consolidated into Simmons First National Bank in August 2014.
“The elimination of the separate bank charters will increase the company’s efficiency and assist the company in more effectively meeting the increased regulatory burden currently facing banking institutions,” said George A. Makris, Jr., Chairman and CEO. “There are many operational functions that we currently perform separately for each of our seven banks. After the consolidation, these tasks will only need to be performed once.”
Makris said there would be no change in locations related to the consolidation of the bank charters.
“Our local management and Community Boards of Directors are committed to maintaining our nearby and neighborly service and this change will allow them more opportunity to meet the needs of our customers and the communities we serve,” Makris said.
Simmons First National Corp. is a $4.4 billion Arkansas-based financial holding company. It is in the process of merging with Little Rock-based Metropolitan National Bank, which Simmons acquired last year.
Shares of Simmons First (NASDAQ: SFNC) closed trading on Wednesday at $36.62. The company’s stock has traded between $23.16 and $38.54 during the past year.