Riegle-Neal Act also authorized banks to merge across state lines, thereby creating interstate branches, beginning
June 1, 1997.  Furthermore, under this act, a bank is now able to open new branches in a state in which it does not
already have banking operations, if the laws of such state permit it to do so.  Accordingly, both the OCC and the
Texas Banking Department accept applications for interstate merger and branching transactions, subject to certain
limitations on ages of the banks to be acquired and the total amount of deposits within the state a bank or financial
holding company may control. Since our primary service area is Texas, we do not expect that the ability to operate
in other states will have any material impact on our growth strategy.  We may, however, face increased competition
from out-of-state banks that branch or make acquisitions in our primary markets in Texas.