Comerica

Comerica, Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: CMA S&P 500 Component
Industry	• Banking  • Financial services
Founded	Detroit, Michigan, United States (1849 as Detroit Savings Fund Institute)
Headquarters	Comerica Bank Tower Dallas, Texas, United States
Number of locations	481 (December 31, 2014)
Key people	• Ralph Babb, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer  • Curtis C. Farmer, President  • Karen Parkhill, Vice Chairman
Services	• Commercial banking  • Retail banking  • Wealth management
Revenue	US$ 2.6 billion (2014)
Net income	US$ 593 million (2014)
Total assets	US$ 69.2 billion (2014)
Total equity	US$ 7.4 billion (2014)
Number of employees	8,876 (December 31, 2014)
Website	comerica.com

Comerica, Inc. is an American financial services company founded in Detroit, Michigan and currently headquartered in Dallas, Texas. In addition to Michigan and Texas, it has retail-banking operations in Arizona, California, and Florida, and select business operations in several other U.S. states, as well as in Canada and Mexico.

It is the 22nd largest U.S. financial holding company, with $69.3 billion in total assets, $48.2 billion in total loans, and $57 billion in total deposits as of March 31, 2015. It is the largest U.S. commercial bank headquartered in Texas. The company's operating units include the Business Bank, the Retail Bank, and Wealth Management.

Employing nearly 9,000 people, its major operations are located in Detroit, Livonia, Auburn Hills, Michigan and Dallas. Ralph Babb is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer; Karen Parkhill is the Chief Financial Officer.

History

Comerica Bank Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas

The company was founded in Detroit by Elon Farnsworth in 1849 as the Detroit Savings Fund Institute. Its name changed to The Detroit Savings Bank in 1871 and to The Detroit Bank in 1936, being one of the few area banks to survive the Great Depression. In 1956, the company merged with Birmingham National Bank, Ferndale National Bank and Detroit Wabeek Bank and Trust Company to form The Detroit Bank & Trust Company. In 1971, it formed a holding company, DetroitBank Corporation. The current name was adopted in 1982.

In 1982, the company entered the Florida market. In 1983, it acquired its hometown rival, Bank of the Commonwealth. It entered the Texas market in 1988 when it acquired Grand Bancshares. It added the California market in 1991 when it purchased Plaza Commerce Bancorp and InBancshares.

In 1992, it merged with another large Detroit-based bank, Manufacturers National Corporation. Both banks were approximately the same size in assets ($14.3 billion and $12.5 billion, respectively) and employees (7,000 and 6,000). The merged bank announced its headquarters would be in the newly constructed Comerica Tower at Detroit Center in downtown Detroit in 1993. Comerica had previously maintained offices in the Detroit Savings Bank Building and Comerica Tower while Manufacturers Bank occupied space in Tower 200 of Renaissance Center.

In 1996, the company sold its Illinois operation, which it acquired as part of its merger with Manufacturers, to LaSalle Bank. In 2000, the bank sold its credit card division to MBNA. In 2001, it acquired Imperial Bank of California, which also had branches in Arizona.

In 1998, the company purchased the naming rights to the baseball stadium in downtown Detroit, home to the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. It is to pay $66 million over a period of thirty years for the naming rights to Comerica Park.

In October, 2002, Comerica Inc. announced to restate its second-quarter earnings to account for a $213 million charge, to cover climbing loan losses and a decline in the value of its Munder Capital Management unit.

On March 6, 2007, the company announced its decision to relocate its corporate headquarters to Dallas in order to move closer to its customer base in the Sun Belt. In August the company announced that it selected 1717 Main Street in Downtown Dallas. The company executives began moving into 1717 Main Street in November 2007. The building has since been renamed Comerica Bank Tower.

In January 2008, the company was selected by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as the financial agent for its Direct Express debit-card program.

On January 18, 2011, it announced the acquisition of Houston-based Sterling Bank (Texas) for $1.03 billion, strengthening Comerica's presence in the Lone Star State. The acquisition virtually tripled its market share in Houston, provided it entry into the San Antonio and Kerrville regions, and complemented its banking center network in Dallas/Fort Worth.

In August 2011, the company consolidated its Detroit operations into the 411 Building, vacating One Detroit Center. The 411 Building is the former headquarters of Manufacturers Bank.

In 2014, Comerica provided more than $8.5 million to not-for-profit organizations in its markets. Its employees raised more than $2.2 million for the United Way and Black United Fund, and donated their personal time with more than 73,000 hours spent helping to make a positive difference in the communities it serves.

Partnership with MasterCard

Comerica Bank, MasterCard, and the U.S. Treasury Department teamed up in 2008 to create the Direct Express Debit MasterCard prepaid debit card. The federal government uses the Express Debit product to issue electronic payments to people who do not have bank accounts, who are often referred to collectively as the "unbanked". Comerica Bank is the issuing bank for the debit card.

See also

• Comerica Bank Building (San Diego, California)
• Comerica Bank Challenger (tennis tournament)
• Comerica Bank New Year's Parade (Dallas, Texas)
• List of banks in the Americas
• List of companies in Dallas
• List of Michigan companies

External links

• Comerica official website
• Comerica online newsroom
• Comerica's senior leadership team