About Regent Bank
Regent Bank, originally known as the “Bank of Nowata”, was opened and incorporated on June 21, 1898 (before the government incorporated Nowata, OK in 1904). It was established by a partnership formed of J. E. Campbell, William Johnstone, E. E. Lawson, James Mehlin and Ben J. Scoville. These directors and stockholders initiated the Bank with capital stock of $10,000, divided into 100 shares of $100 each. Johnstone was elected the first president, E. B. Lawson as vice president, J. W. Campbell as cashier and W. E. Endley as assistant cashier.
The current two-story Bank building was built in 1909, with capital stock in the amount of $25,000, and was then named the First National Bank in Nowata. In 1936, twenty-seven years later, the Bank was sold to Roy E. Cobbs, J. Wood Glass, and Ross Bayless. A few years later, in 1940, George W. Lee moved to Nowata and bought stock in the Bank. In 1944 he and his long-time associate, Ross R. Bayless purchased controlling interest of the First National Bank of Nowata. Bayless was President of the Bank and Lee was Vice President. Bayless retired in 1958 and sold his interest in the Bank to Lee, who then owned controlling interest and took over the reigns as President.
In 1958, George’s son Bryan, became involved in First National Bank of Nowata. Before this time, Bryan had earned a degree in Banking from Oklahoma State University, served his country for 2 years in the United States Army and started his Banking career in Pawhuska, OK. Bryan joined the Bank in the capacity of Cashier and a member of the Board of Directors. Ten years later he was elected President and in 1972 Trust Officer. Bryan Lee became Chairman of the Board in 1982. Under the leadership of Bryan Lee, the First National Bank completed a major building project in August of 1984. The bank building was completely renovated doubling the floor space to 14,000 feet. A new drive-thru Bank was opened in late 1983 as part of this project.
In 1991, Bryan’s son, BC joined the Bank as Assistant Cashier. Five years later, in 1996, BC became the third generation of Lee’s to hold the position of President of First National Bank. During this same year the name of the Bank changed to First National Bank & Trust Company. In December 1995, a full service branch was opened in South Coffeyville for northern Nowata county and Southeast Kansas. The branch sold to Welch State Bank on January 15, 2011 – a transaction that was mutually beneficial to both banks.
In April of 2003, the Bank decided to change its name to Regent Bank, N.A. This name change would allow the Bank to more efficiently expand into additional markets. The name Regent means “a Trustee or overseer” and certainly embodies the type of relationship we have with our clients.
In April of 2008, Regent Capital Corporation, led by Sean Kouplen and partner Dow Hughes, purchased Regent Bank. Regent Capital Corporation is made up of a widely held investor group, many of whom are small business owners and operators.
Regent Bank expanded into Tulsa in August of 2008 by occupying our current location in the Executive Center One office building on the southwest corner of 71st and Yale. This location boasts excellent visibility and is ideally located to serve our business clientele. Tulsa has developed into Regent Bank’s largest market and continues to grow rapidly.
In September 2012, Regent Bank took advantage of an opportunity to hire a talented Oklahoma City banker and expanded into Oklahoma City by opening a loan production office at Western & Wilshire in the Nichols Hills area. The loan production office performed well and a full-service branch at Penn and Northwest Expressway opened in August of 2014 serving the Northwest Oklahoma City/Edmond Metroplex area.
In May of 2018, Regent Bank took advantage of an opportunity to hire six of the best in banking in Springfield, Missouri and opened a branch in this dynamic community on East Battlefield. In a few short months, the bank has grown to almost $70 million in assets.
In October of 2020, Regent Bank opened a branch in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The unique mural on the bank building reflects a community filled with early Oklahoma history. Bartlesville is the home of ConocoPhillips and boasts buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Since our purchase in 2008, Regent has grown from a single market community bank with $72 million in assets into a regional business bank in five different markets and boasts near one billion in total assets. We are excited about our growth in all markets.
Regent Bank’s Board of Directors are Sean Kouplen, Chairman, President and CEO, Greg Boudreau, Brian Busey, Darrel Fry, Chuck Patterson, Jerry Smith, Dr. John Smithson, Don Townsen, Jerry Winchester, Chuck Woolley and Tony Young. Jerry Hensley, Steve Baker, Valarie Land and Tracy Williams serve as Advisory Directors and Sandy Moore serves as Secretary to the Board.
