Nov. 26--Veteran banking figure Bruce Davis abruptly left his position as president of Tarrant County operations for Southside Bank, formerly Fort Worth National Bank, on Nov. 19 but said his departure was a mutual decision with superiors at the parent company, Southside Bancshares.

The 54-year-old career banker established Fort Worth National Bank in 1999, adopting the moniker of a venerable city institution whose name had been dropped in a takeover. In May 2007, he sold the bank to Tyler-based Southside Bancshares in a $36.5 million, all-cash deal and agreed to stay on.

But undisclosed "management and strategy differences" prompted Davis to leave a week ago, he said Tuesday.

"We agreed to disagree," Davis said. "I am out looking out for other things."

He expected to eventually return to banking, he said.

The banker insisted that he was not upset with Southside's top management, saying: "They were very generous to me, and I mean that sincerely. I wish Southside every success. It was just a situation that wasn't going to work out for everyone."

Southside President Sam Dawson said from Tyler that Davis "felt like there were other opportunities." He declined to comment on any differences suggested by Davis, saying that they were not his characterization. No determination has been made on a successor, he said.

Dawson said Davis helped the company make the acquisition in 2007.

"We weathered through that and branched the bank," Dawson said, alluding to the decision to operate the Fort Worth bank under Southside Bank's charter rather than separately. "There were so many redundancies we thought it was better to make it a branch."

Along with the three Fort Worth bank locations, Southside operates 44 retail banking outlets.

BARRY SHLACHTER, 817-390-7718

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