Stitt business interests may need untangling to avoid conflicts

In July, Oklahoma Watch requested financial information and tax returns from all candidates for statewide office. Unlike his two opponents in the gubernatorial race, Stitt declined to release any financial details or returns.

Unique questions

Stitt could have a complicated road to divestiture. He has grown Jenks-based Gateway Mortgage Group to more than 1,200 employees with operations in 40 states.

Oklahoma has not had a governor who has come directly from owning and running a company of Gateway's size. One of the closest examples is former Gov. Robert S. Kerr, who came from a thriving oil and gas company, which later became the Kerr-McGee Corp., to win the governorship in 1942.

Stitt stepped down as CEO of Gateway on Aug. 1 but remains as chairman of the board. A week later, Gateway said its owner, a private trust comprised of Stitt, his wife and children, will acquire a Cherokee-based bank, Farmers Exchange Bank. The transaction will fold Gateway into the existing regulatory structure of the state-chartered community bank, with the new company to be called Gateway First Bank.

The Gateway bank conversion is pending before the Oklahoma Banking Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019, said Gateway CEO Stephen Curry. The new bank would be among the state's top five banks in terms of employees and net income, Gateway said in a news release announcing the deal.

Should the Gateway merger gain approval, Stitt could be in the unique position of picking the people who will regulate his bank. The banking commissioner and members of the seven-person Banking Board are appointed by the governor with the consent of the Oklahoma Senate. Four of the seven members of the board have their terms expiring during the next four years.

“We are working on a comprehensive solution and will seek the guidance of the attorney general through the process,” Stitt spokeswoman Donelle Harder said last week.

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