BANKING COMMISSION


Publications: Annual report on Banks and Trust Companies; Annual
    Report on Building and Loan Associations; Annual Report on
    Credit Unions; Annual Report on Small Loan and Discount Com-
    panies; Banking Laws; Building and Loan Laws.

  The state Banking Department administers the laws relating to
state banks, trust company banks, building and loan associations,
investment associations, credit unions, small loan companies, dis-
count companies, and the licensing of automobile finance companies,
dealers and salesmen.
  Good roads and modern automobiles have changed the banking busi-
ness in Wisconsin. Twenty years ago there were 851 state banks in
Wisconsin, many of them at country cross roads where they could best
serve the needs of the farmer and the country merchant. Today that
number has been reduced to 470. In the face of the depression of ten
years ago, many banks were forced to close. Some consolidated with
larger institutions and some went into voluntary liquidation. A law
passed in 1933 authorizes the banking department to issue permits
for "receiving and paying stations" to transact a limited business
as
agent for and on behalf of the parent bank. At the present time there
are 114 of these so-called stations. The plan renders a limited bank-
ing service through a strong bank in a neighboring city to many
communities otherwise denied such accommodations.
  Assets in the 470 state banks on June 30, 1941, totaled $544,694,-
356.32, which represented.an increase of $51,161,236.11 over the figure
for June 29, 1940. An interesting point in connection with the increase
is the fact that loans and discounts have increased during the same
period by $24,283,177.38, indicating a greater use of money in Wis-
consin business.
  A rehabilitation program for building and loan associations begun
in May 1939 has been completed. Associations about the state have
been able to continue operations on an even keel. It has been the
associations in the industrial centers that have felt the effect of the
depression keenly. Through mergers, conversions and segregation of
assets and liquidations, the number of state associations in Milwaukee
County has been reduced from 102 to 49. Of the $120,500,000 in assets
held by the Milwaukee County building and loan associations prior to
the reorganization program, approximately $100,000,000 has been
made available to the shareholders through insurance of shares and
the payment of liquidating dividends. The major problem confronting
the associations is the item of real estate owned. Through the efforts
of the Milwaukee Properties Bureau and the associations, approxi-
mately $16,000,000 of real estate has been sold during the past two
years. The building and loan associations are now operating on a
normal basis, enjoying the public confidence, and selling more share
investments than at any time since the depression. As of December 31,
1940, there were 124 state chartered building and loan associations in
Wisconsin with total assets of approximately $116,750,000.


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