Texas Bankers Association - TBA Information - News Media - Texas Banking History

April 30, 1835: The first official bank charter is issued in Texas for the Banco de Commercia y Agricultura.
Sept. 5, 1836: The constitution of the Republic of Texas was silent on banking.
Feb. 1, 1861 - June 2, 1865: During the Civil War, private bankers continued to function, but there were no chartered banks of issue.
1863: A national banking system was established by Congress and the Lincoln administration as a way to help finance the depleted treasury of the Union during the Civil War.
The First National Bank of Galveston was chartered.
1869: The reconstruction government of Texas changed the prohibition against banks in the Constitution, resulting in the chartering of 48 state banks. That privilege was repealed by the Constitution of 1876.
July 23, 1885: Thirty-one banker delegates from 22 cities and towns founded the Texas Bankers Association in Lampasas Springs. Since 1845, when the Texas constitution was adopted, there were restrictions against state chartering of banks. To free-spirited entrepreneurs of 1885, this was clearly discriminatory, and they felt action was needed to remove this restriction. The logical way to remove the restrictions, the bankers felt, was to form an association.
Nov. 4, 1904: Texas voters ratified the constitutional amendment to permit the State of Texas to charter banks. The first state bank in Texas chartered under the act was the Union Bank and Trust Co. of Houston.
May 12, 1909: As a result of the Panic of 1907, a law was enacted that offered insurance of bank deposits.
1912: The Texas Women Bankers Association was formed.
Dec. 23, 1913: The Federal Reserve Act became law. Twelve Federal Reserve Banks opened for business on Nov. 16, 1914, with Dallas being the site of one of the regional banks.
Aug. 28, 1916: John S. Patterson, commissioner of banking, was shot and fatally wounded while putting up a notice announcing the bank to be in charge of the "commissioner." The cashier of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank in Teague was arrested.
1926: In an effort to reduce bank robberies in Texas, the Texas Bankers Association offered a $500 reward (later increased to $5,000) for each dead bank robber, killed while in the act of robbing a member bank in Texas.
Dec. 23, 1927: Four bandits-one dressed in a Santa Claus suit-robbed the First National Bank in Cisco. The bank robbery, which became nationally famous, was known as the "Santa Claus Bank Robbery." A violent gun battle erupted; one of the robbers was killed; the other three escaped. Two children, who followed "Santa" to the bank, were taken as hostages by the fleeing bandits. They were soon released. The chief of police died that night of gunshot wounds; others died later. When "Santa Claus" shot and killed a jailer, an aroused crowd stormed the jail, took the bandit and lynched him.
Oct. 24, 1929: The stock market crashed.
March 3-7, 1933: Governor Ferguson declared a bank holiday for all Texas banks.
June 16, 1933: President Roosevelt signed the Glass-Steagall bill and the Banking Act of 1933 became effective immediately. One of its provisions was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
1980: The Monetary Control Act of 1980 required the Fed to price its financial services competitively against private sector providers and to establish reserve requirements for all eligible financial institutions. Following its passage, interstate banking proliferated.
1999: The Gramm-Leach Bliley Act was passed, in essence overturning the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 and allowing banks to offer a menu of financial services, including investment banking and insurance sales.