First Financial Bankshares, Inc., a Texas corporation, is a financial holding
company registered under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, or
BHCA. As such, we are supervised by the Federal Reserve Board, as well as several
other bank regulators. We were formed as a bank holding company in 1956 under
the original name F & M Operating Company, but our banking operations date
back to 1890, when Farmers and Merchants National Bank opened for business in
Abilene, Texas. In addition, on May 31, 2013, we acquired Orange Savings Bank,
SSB and merged Orange Savings Bank, SSB with and into First Financial Bank,
National Association, our subsidiary bank. On July 31, 2015, we acquired FBC
Bancshares, Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary, First Bank, N.A., Conroe,
Texas and merged these entities with and into the Company and our subsidiary
bank, respectively. We also completed an asset purchase of 4Trust Mortgage,
Inc. on June 1, 2015 that significantly increased our residential mortgages/loan
originations that are sold in the secondary market.
• First Financial Bank, National Association, Abilene, Texas;
• First Technology Services, Inc., Abilene, Texas, wholly owned subsidiary
of First Financial Bank, National Association, Abilene, Texas;
• First Financial Trust & Asset Management Company, National Association,
Abilene, Texas;
• First Financial Insurance Agency, Inc., Abilene, Texas; and
• First Financial Investments, Inc., Abilene, Texas.
Through our subsidiaries, we conduct a full-service commercial banking business.
Our banking centers are located primarily in Central, North Central, Southeast
and West Texas. As of December 31, 2015, we had 70 financial centers across
Texas, with eleven locations in Abilene, three locations in San Angelo and Weatherford,
two locations in Cleburne, Conroe, Huntsville, Stephenville, and Granbury, and
one location each in Acton, Albany,
Aledo, Alvarado, Beaumont, Boyd, Bridgeport, Brock, Burleson, Cisco, Clyde,
Cut and Shoot, Decatur, Eastland, Fort Worth, Glen Rose, Grapevine, Hereford,
Keller, Magnolia, Mauriceville, Merkel, Midlothian, Mineral Wells, Montgomery,
Moran, New Waverly, Newton, Odessa, Orange, Port Arthur, Ranger, Rising Star,
Roby, Southlake, Sweetwater, Tomball, Trent, Trophy Club, Vidor, Waxahachie,
Willis and Willow Park, all in Texas.
Even though we operate in a growing number of Texas markets, we continue to
believe that decisions are best made at the local level. Although we consolidated
our bank charters into one charter, we continue to regionally manage our operations
with local advisory boards of directors, local bank region presidents and local
decision-making. We have consolidated many of the backroom operations, such
as investment securities, accounting, check processing, technology and employee
benefits, which improves our efficiency and frees management of our bank regions
to concentrate on serving the banking needs of their local communities. On December
1, 2015, we announced that we have combined, effective January 1, 2016, our
Huntsville and Conroe Regions and our Abilene, Sweetwater and Eastland Regions.
Also, the Company established a Fort Worth Region that previously was a branch
of our Weatherford Region.
We believe our community approach to doing business works best for us in small
and mid-size markets, where we can play a prominent role in the economic, civic
and cultural life of the community. Our goal is to serve these communities well
and to experience growth as these markets continue to expand. In many instances,
banking competition is less intense in smaller markets, making it easier for
us to operate rationally and attract and retain high-caliber employees who prefer
not only our community-banker concept but the high quality of life in smaller
cities.
