New Lending Capacity for Oklahoma Communities
$300 Million in New Lending Capacity for Oklahoma Communities
SpiritBank Approved for U.S. Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program
Tulsa, OK – Tulsa-based SpiritBank was identified and approved by the U.S. Treasury Department for inclusion in the Capital Purchase Program (CPP) and will receive $30 million today. The leverage capacity for this capital results in $300 million to lend and revitalize Oklahoma communities. Albert C. “Kell” Kelly Jr., SpiritBank CEO, announced that SpiritBank approved the bank’s involvement in the voluntary CPP program earlier this month.
SpiritBank, with 17 locations across Oklahoma, has $1.25 billion in assets, placing it in the top 7 percent of banks in the nation.
“The Capital Purchase Program was designed for healthy banks and is just one component of the government’s economic recovery effort,” said Kelly. “Because SpiritBank is one of the state’s strongest banks, and because of our unique position in providing home mortgage financing across the state, we are well-positioned to deploy this money to stimulate the Oklahoma economy.”
Passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act in late 2008 resulted in the formation of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). This gave the Treasury the ability to purchase up to $700 billion in “troubled assets.” Several weeks later, however, the government also created the Capital Purchase Program which made $250 billion of that money available to strong, highly regulated commercial banks so they could, in turn, reinvest the money in their communities.
The CPP funds are, in essence, a loan made by the U.S. Treasury to strong banks capable of reinvesting it in their communities. The capital is an investment, for which preferred stock is issued to the government. The funds must be fully repaid to the government at an interest rate of 5 percent per year for the first five years and 9 percent thereafter.
In addition to the terms requiring SpiritBank to repay the capital with interest each year, Kelly said the program also calls for participating banks to limit the amount of executive pay and bonuses received each year by these institutions.
“After a comprehensive review process we’ve chosen to be involved in the Capital Purchase Program because we see it as an opportunity to help Oklahoma and to continue fostering our state’s entrepreneurial spirit.” said Kelly.
“Because of SpiritBank’s track record of involvement in communities throughout the state, we feel there’s no one better suited to take on this responsibility and get this money into the hands of creditworthy Oklahoma individuals and businesses.”
For more information, click here for a video from SpiritBank CEO, Kell Kelly.
General History
SpiritBank began as American National Bank in Bristow in 1916 enduring many economic ups and downs. During the 1980’s, a particularly difficult decade for banks, American National Bank acquired banks in some of Oklahoma’s rural communities. In the mid-‘90’s, as the bank made plans to enter Tulsa, the name was changed to SpiritBank to avoid similar names and reflect the entrepreneurial and family spirit of the bank. Today, SpiritBank has 17 branches across the state from Tulsa to Oklahoma City with $1.25 billion in assets.