Texas banks' loan quality makes gains; future hazy

A broad downturn in commercial lending could present some opportunities for bankers in this region to steal business away from the national banks, industry insiders say. And the numbers being reported during the current earnings period appear to suggest there is some beef behind their bravado.

Banks in places such as California, Florida and Georgia have seen their volume of bad loans more than double in the last year, while the total loan quality at Texas-based banks actually improved during that time, according to data from industry analysts at SNL Financial.