Mashantuckets Venture Into Banking Business

MASHANTUCKET (AP) — The Mashantucket Pequots are joining with other Indian tribes to create a Native American National Bank that will serve tribes and non-Indians doing business with tribes, according to a published report Tuesday.

The bank could open as early as this fall in Denver, The Day of New London reported.

While the Mashantuckets apparently have committed to the endeavor, the neighboring Mohegan Indians are still considering the venture.

“We’ve attended some meetings, but we haven’t made a decision,” Mr Acevedo said. “They’re looking for 15 founding members. The Mashantuckets are in, but we’re still deciding,” Mohegans’ chief of staff Thomas Acevedo told The Day.

Fifteen tribes have been invited to help create the commercial bank by putting up an unspecified amount of cash.

“Overall, it’s a positive opportunity,” said Mr Acevedo. “It’s a win-win because of the return on investment, and also because the money that tribes invest will be used to promote business in Indian Country.”

The annual return on investments is projected to be 15 percent to 20 percent, according to J.D. Colbert, president of the North American Native Bankers Association in Oklahoma.

The organization formed two years ago includes Indian banks in California, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin, and Canada.

“Whereas tribes have been successful in gaming, manufacturing, or distribution, the time has come for tribes to be in financial services,” Mr Colbert recently told The Commercial Record, a Connecticut business newspaper.

Mashantucket Tribal Vice Chairman Richard “Skip” Hayward headed up the group working to establish the bank until just a few months ago. Tex Hall, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, is leading the group.

The tribes will have to submit an application to the federal Office of Comptroller of the Currency, whose president, John Beirise, would not comment on the new bank.

Last year, Indian casinos nationwide generated gross revenues of $8.4 billion. Foxwoods, owned by the Mashantuckets, and Mohegan Sun are two of the country’s most successful American Indian gaming halls, taking in almost $1.8 billion last year.

Mashantucket officials did not return a phone call seeking comment.