The Seminole Tribe of Florida wants to purchase a bank, where it could boost profits by depositing casino proceeds and then using the cash liquidity to make loans. However, the Fort Lauderdale-based Valley Bank will not be the one. The tribe canceled its application with the Federal Reserve Insurance Corporation, filed on May 27, to acquire Valley Bank, considered a “critically undercapitalized” bank with .3 million in assets and four branches.
The application stated, “The creation of Seminole Bank will be transformational for the Seminole Tribe of Florida community as Seminole Bank will provide access to the full array of financial services available in the marketplace for each and every member of the Seminole Tribe.” The Seminole Tribe generates about $2 billion in annual gaming revenues, allowing most members to receive monthly dividends from profits.
Seminole Tribe spokesman Gary Bitner said, “After doing a more thorough review, they decided not to move forward with the Valley bank project and will be on the lookout for an opportunity for another bank sometime in the coming months.”
A Seminole Tribe-owned bank could offer special products benefiting Native Americans, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program, Bitner said, noting most banks in Florida are reluctant to make loans on reservation land. “Tribal members are underserved by banks, particularly in the more rural reservations like Brighton and Big Cypress where they have to drive for miles off reservation to get to a bank,” he said.
Native American tribes own 19 banks in the United States, but just one in the Southeast. The Seminole Tribe is a minority investor in Denver-based Native American Bank which does not have branches.
