Texas State Bank changing owner and name

McALLEN - A Spanish financial giant's name will adorn a popular local bank starting today.

BBVA Compass will replace the Texas State Bank banner at more than 62 branches in the Rio Grande Valley and East Texas. With the merger the company plans to lay off employees across the chain including 52 from an Edinburg operation center.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta green-lighted the Spanish-based Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argenta SA's merger of four U.S. regional banks under the Compass banner in March: Texas State Bank, State National Bank, Laredo National Bank and Alabama-based Compass Bank.

"By tomorrow morning ... you will see all of the brand-spanking-new signage up," Sabrina Heins, a local spokeswoman for BBVA Compass, said Thursday.

Texas State Bank, which last year reported assets totaling $8.4 billion, plans to lay off employees at its McAllen headquarters, 3900 N. 10th St., which is also slated to be re-branded today. Heins said the bank was unsure how many employees it would shed or when they would be let go.

BBVA Compass hopes to relocate the employees from the Edinburg operation center to a soon-to-open information center on "I" Road near Expressway 83 in Pharr, she said.

BBVA purchased Texas State Bank, which was founded in 1963 and had 26 commercial banking branches, in June 2006 for $2.16 billion and then bought Alabama-based Compass Bank last year for $9.6 billion.

The company employs some 13,489 in the U.S. and has 44 million customers worldwide and holds more than $66 billion in assets. and 1 million shareholders worldwide, according to filings with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the BBVA Compass' Web site.

BBVA reported in July that its quarterly profit declined by close to 19 percent from a year ago, attributing the change to increasing loan defaults.