Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.wpost From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: McColl Could Help Change Bankers' View of Their Role=BY RUDOLPH A. PYATT JR.= Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 10:44:02 EST Message-ID: <18.1992Nov26.104402@AmeriCast.com> Lines: 146 McColl Could Help Change Bankers' View of Their Role=BY RUDOLPH A. PYATT JR.= A former Charlotte, N.C., resident recalls being intrigued several years ago by a map prominently displayed in the office of NationsBank Corp.'s president and chief executive, Hugh L. McColl Jr. When asked to explain the significance of several flags that had been placed on the map, McColl reportedly told his visitor they represented places where NationsBank planned to be in a few years. That could be viewed as an example of the arrogance and overly ambitious approach that McColl and his team at NationsBank are often accused of exhibiting. To others it might be illustrative of the confidently blunt style and aggressive expansion strategy that helped catapult NationsBank to the upper echelon of the in- dustry, as the country's fourth-largest banking institution. In his first appearance before Washington's business and politi- cal establishments this week, McColl left little doubt about the significance of the map and flags, though he never actually re- ferred to them. "We set out a decade ago to build a franchise that stretches from Baltimore to Miami to El Paso," he said matter-of-factly. In the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Greater Washington Board of Trade this week, McColl implied that his strategic plan has always been based on gaining a foothold in the lucrative Washington-Baltimore market. "We spend a great deal of time studying where our company should be in the next century. The answer is right here," he declared to the delight of some but to the consternation of others among the nearly 1,300 persons who attended the board's annual meeting at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. That statement, along with McColl's repeated pledges to invest in and help promote the region as a wealthy and desirable busi- ness location, should form the real basis of any attempt locally to define NationsBank and McColl. Most of those who attended the Board of Trade meeting and lun- cheon probably never saw a banker - or a chief executive of any company, for that matter - quite like McColl. The architect of NationsBank's aggressive growth strategy certainly isn't cut from the same bolt of cloth as most of his peers in the banking indus- try. Certainly, his style, bearing and philosophy of banking pro- vide a striking contrast to the traditionally conservative, low- key image that most Washington bankers cultivated over the years. "Most people will tell you humility is not one of my strengths," McColl volunteered during remarks to business and political leaders. That may help to explain why McColl's remarks, though generally well received, pricked the pride and parochial sensitivities of some in the audience. "I thought he was condescending," one exe- cutive complained. "He gave a 20-minute commercial for NationsBank," grumbled another. "That wasn't problematic for me. What really bothered me was this guy (McColl) saying: 'You people didn't know how to run banks up here. We do and we're here to save your (expletive).' " Actually McColl merely stated that North Carolina's Big Three banks - NationsBank, First Union Corp. and Wachovia Corp. - have been successful because they were "honed and hardened in a caul- dron of competition" that resulted from years of statewide bank- ing. While most other states limited statewide banking until re- cently, he added, North Carolina banks were learning how to run large branch networks, pool their resources, manage them effi- ciently, produce strong earnings and raise capital for new oppor- tunities. That, he added, is "why North Carolina banks are (in the Washington area) and banks from somewhere else are not - in- cluding the ones that were here at one time." The truth is McColl's assessment of the local banking community is only partially correct. There's no question but that North Carolina's banking giants were nurtured in a highly competitive environment and have been extremely aggressive in acquiring banks across state lines since the adoption of regional banking laws in the mid-1980s. It should be noted, however, that District banks were severely restricted to operating within the narrow confines of the city until local officials approved regional interstate banking laws in 1985. In the meantime, NationsBank and First Union have also been very aggressive and shrewd enough to take advantage of a good many bank failures in recent years. With the help of federal regula- tors in acquiring some of those failed institutions, NationsBank and First Union have significantly expanded their presence throughout the Southeast and Southwest. Virginia banks were no less aggressive, however, in taking advantage of regional inter- state banking laws, especially in Maryland and the District. It was in fact a merger between Virginia's Sovran Financial Corp. and Georgia's C&S Corp. - two regional giants - that set the stage for NationsBank to capture a major share of deposits in this area. McColl's NCNB Corp. ultimately acquired C&S/Sovran and named the merged company NationsBank. Having obtained a right of first refusal to a merger with MNC Financial Inc., Maryland's largest bank holding company and parent of Washington's American Security Bank, NationsBank is poised to become the dominant institution in the Maryland-D.C.- Virginia region. How and why NationsBank became a major player in this market are really immaterial. McColl makes no bones about following the ad- vice of his company's first chairman, who counseled his subordi- nates to "go where the people and the money are." What really matters in the long run is whether NationsBank car- ries out McColl's pledge to "set the standard (among banks) for successful financial partnership and enlightened social steward- ship." Like it or not, that in itself is an encouraging indication of change in the way bankers in the area traditionally viewed the role of their institutions. Few local bankers have ever stood be- fore a major audience and talked about social stewardship as McColl did in announcing: "I want all of our NationsBank team- mates to take us up on the two paid hours a week we offer them to work in the schools." If NationsBank has a bias, McColl continued, "it is a bias for doing business - whether it is helping an individual make the right personal financial choices or enabling a business to meet its expansion plans." The bank has made a special commitment to reach every segment of the community, he added. Arrogant? Condescending? "A cross between a Marine and God?" as one detractor suggested. Clearly McColl is no deity. Most would agree, however, that he is a tough-talking former Marine officer with a take-no-prisoners approach to business. If that represents a new approach to bank- ing that redounds to the benefit of business and consumers in the Washington-Baltimore region, then it's unlikely that many here will care whether McColl is arrogant or condescending. 02:14 11-26C9999----- Copyright 1992, The Washington Post. This story is from the Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar- chived or redistributed. For more information, send-email to American Cybercasting Cor- poration (usa@AmeriCast.COM)