Palm Springs, Ca Bank Has Largest Tribal Investment

Sept. 26, 2008 - PRLog -- PALM SPRINGS, CA - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) reports that, of the six nationally chartered banks with an investment by a Native American Tribe, Canyon National Bank has the largest asset base with total assets at June 30, 2008, of $290 million.  The Palm Springs-based Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians owns 43% of the stock in Canyon Bancorp, the single-subsidiary holding company of Canyon National Bank.  

The Tribe was a founding shareholder when the bank opened in July, 1998, investing $3.6 million of the initial $8 million in capital.  Ten years later, Canyon National Bank reported Total Stockholder’s Equity of $28 million and a “Well Capitalized” regulatory rating as of June 30, 2008.  

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has more than 400 members and more than 31,500 acres of ancestral land. A strong economic force in the Coachella Valley, the Tribe employs nearly 2,800 people in its two hotels, two casinos, and two golf resorts. Construction on a new entertainment venue is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2009.

As Palm Springs’ only locally owned and managed financial institution, Canyon National Bank has also contributed to the local economy through its offering of community-based loan and deposit products and services.  Efforts have earned the Bank an Outstanding rating, the highest level of distinction, in both Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) exams conducted by the OCC since the Bank’s inception in 1998.

Canyon National Bank takes pride that its efforts over the past decade to serve the banking needs of Native Americans has achieved national recognition.  Today, the Bank markets its expertise in tribal-specific loan and deposit programs to Tribes in fifteen states in the western United States.

Canyon National Bank is a full-service commercial bank, a subsidiary of Canyon Bancorp, a bank holding company, and a member of the FDIC. Palm Springs branch locations are at 1711 East Palm Canyon Drive at the Smoke Tree Village Shopping Center and 901 East Tahquitz Canyon Way. Palm Desert branch locations are at 74-150 Country Club Drive and 77-933 Las Montañas Road across from Sun City. Shares of the Company’s common stock are traded on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board (stock symbol CYBA).