Banker is Pals with Donald Powell

Rob Brothers, CEO of Arvest Bank-Rogers, is practically on a first-name basis with President Bush appointee Donald Powell, the new chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Brothers has seen Powell speak in person four times since December, including May 2 at the 112th Annual Arkansas Bankers Association Convention at the Peabody Hotel and Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Brothers will be the ABA’s first vice president from June until May 2003 and its president the following year.

During the convention, Brothers found himself riding a Peabody hotel elevator with Powell and the chairman’s wife, Twanna. Brothers said their conversation was only small talk, but he came away with a good impression of the Powells.

Powell is a lifelong north Texan and the former chairman of the board of regents of the Texas A&M University System, so Brothers had to abstain from Aggie jokes.

Brothers said Powell’s conversational speeches have focused on industry hot buttons such as FDIC insurance reform, FDIC coverage limits and the likely merger of the federal agency’s bank insurance fund and the savings associations insurance fund.