Banks in state report stability

BY DENNIS SEID

Too much debt

Taking on massive debt is not an ideal situation, because it is impossible to maintain the capital structure, and that's where companies like Lehman ran into problems - liquidity.

Said Cyree, "Lehman's was overleveraged - 30, 40, 50 to 1."

In fact, Lehman had $60 billion of bad real estate. It wasn't alone, however, as global banks have written off more than $300 billion in asset value since last year, according to The Associated Press.

And that's why banks doing business in Mississippi are doing just fine.

"Larger regional banks and community banks, too, also have something that those other banks don't, and that's stable deposits," Patterson said. "The bottom line is that Mississippi banks are stable, well-regulated and our deposits are safe."

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