Large Depositors Abandoning Troubled Texas S

Some Texas thrifts, already saddled with bad loans, are trying to fend off a run by depositors who are pulling their dollars out by the millions in what one analyst called a cycle of “greed and fear.”

Large depositors withdrew $527 million in April, the largest withdrawal so far this year in Texas, according to the Federal Home Loan Bank. Figures aren’t available yet for May and June.

Analysts and regulators said those depositors were cashing in their high-interest jumbo certificates of deposit at troubled thrifts and taking them to healthier institutions with lower returns.

“We see two emotions in the cycle: greed and fear,” said Frank Anderson, a financial consultant with Ferguson & Co. of Irving, Tex.

While some depositors lately have been showing renewed caution, Anderson believes that “so far, greed has won out over fear.

“People want the higher rates at the ailing institutions, but they also want the government security. It depends on whether you want to eat well or sleep well,” he said.

The greatest headache for Texas thrifts is the decline of the $100,000 jumbo certificates, said Mike Edgar of the Federal Home Loan Bank.

More Brokered Deposits

The cash shortage prompted a 23% increase in savings and loans taking brokered deposits at interest rates as much as 2.2% higher than rates paid by thrifts outside Texas, said George M. Barclay, executive vice president of the Dallas Federal Home Loan Bank. The 2.2% figure is annualized over the past six months, he said.

About $1.6 billion in cash reserves that thrifts held on account at the Dallas FHLB was withdrawn in the past six months ending in May, Barclay said. But the Dallas home loan bank had gained back $1.1 billion of that amount by June 1, Edgar said.

Barclay said as much as $2 billion to $4 billion is needed now at the Dallas FHLB alone to improve members’ liquidity.

For that reason, analysts and some regulators believe that a stronger congressional bailout bill is needed for the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., which guarantees individuals’ deposits up to $100,000.

Technically, FSLIC is insolvent, because it lacks the funds to cover the thrifts’ projected liabilities, said Anderson, the financial consultant. Thrifts can operate with bad loans, but they must maintain adequate deposits to stay in business.

“In Texas, we will need $5 billion to $7.5 billion in the next five years,” Anderson said. House and Senate conferees recently agreed on an $8.5-billion plan, while about twice that amount was proposed by the Reagan Administration.