President, Group Executive Vice President & Chief Banking Officer, Cullenfrost Bankers
Search every verified Paul Bracher interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2018 interview on CNBC's *Mad Money*, Phil Green, Chairman and CEO of Cullen/Frost Bankers, discussed the bank's performance and outlook. Green stated that the bank was guiding to "sustainability" and aiming for "consistent above-average sustainable organic growth through great customer experiences." He attributed the bank's double-digit loan growth partly to decreased regulatory uncertainty following the 2016 election, saying that "the rate of regulation would slow" and that this gave businesses "more clarity to move forward." Green also noted that strong employment in Texas was driving wage increases but said that "business has been great," particularly in the energy sector, with the Permian Basin "as hot as it's ever been." Green reported that non-performing assets were improving quarter-over-quarter and that problem loans were down 25% from a year earlier. He described Texas as "arguably the best economy to operate in the world" and said the bank was "asset sensitive," meaning higher interest rates benefit it directionally. Green expressed optimism about the economy, stating, "I like people being put to work and making good money, and they do, and everybody benefits."
“Texas is a great economy; it's arguably the best economy to operate in the world, and we're taking advantage of that because we're in some great markets. The tax act has helped, and some of the investment done by companies buying equipment to take advantage of depreciation rules has been a positive, but that hasn't bee...”
“The deregulation thing is a big deal. After the last election, there was a change in optimism of business owners because there was decreased uncertainty about what the new administration would do. It was intuitively understood that the rate of deregulation would slow, and that has happened for our business and others,...”
“There is such strong employment that wages are going up. Yes, labor costs are increasing, but that doesn't mean business is going down. In fact, business has been great, especially in the energy sector, with the Permian Basin as hot as it's ever been and energy employment growing at 21 percent annualized.”
“We're asset sensitive, so higher interest rates benefit us directionally. Additionally, we have long loan growth of 10 percent, broad-based across big deals, smaller core deals, consumer loans, and commercial real estate. We're in great markets and able to take advantage of that.”
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