By ALLISSA KLINE
Business First

Robert Wilmers, M&T Bank's top executive, likes telling the so-called "M&T story" - a story about steady lending, prudent expansion and deep commitment to the communities in which it operates.

But the M&T story isn't complete, Wilmers said, without mentioning the current atmosphere in which the Buffalo-based bank does business.

"In the long run, our communities cannot remain healthy unless our national economy recovers, so I am deeply concerned that there is virtually no dialogue about the financial condition of state and local government," he said. "Unless there is a radical change, vast sections of M&T's geography will continue to deteriorate. If past is prelude, the future appears bleak, and potential increases in an already-high tax burden will make job creation even more difficult."

This year's annual meeting

Wilmers' comments came April 20 during M&T's annual stockholders' meeting at One M&T Plaza in Buffalo. The meeting followed the company's latest earnings report, released April 19. The report showed net income of $151 million for the period ending March 31, compared with $64 million in the year-earlier quarter.

During his address, Wilmers blasted secondary mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying real financial reform won't occur until the federal government confronts the "outrageous behavior" of both companies. He said Main Street banks absorbed severe losses, while Wall Street banks got help from the government through the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

"This is not private enterprise," he said. "It's crony capitalism, in which public subsidies are turned into private riches. It happened because those executives were accountable not to shareholders but to their masters in Congress who created and protected these enterprises."

He added: "The powers that be must get to work on the reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A healthy housing market, a healthy financial system and even the bond rating of the federal government depend on it."

TARP money not repaid yet

M&T Bank is one of the banks that accepted TARP money. It has not yet repaid the $600 million it received in late 2008 from the federal government.

Wilmers also criticized the growing number of public-sector jobs compared with private-sector employment, which has been declining. He said government increasingly depends on a "consistently shrinking private economy" that could struggle to support the public sector.

"This combination of excessive (government) debt and ongoing high spending robs us of the resources needed to provide the infrastructure of economic growth, including well-supported colleges and universities, as well as the roads, rails and bridges that pave the way for commerce," he said.

"Simply put, there's no money left for the things we need most to build long-term prosperity for our communities," he said.

Home sweet home

M&T Bank's home base is Buffalo, but it has been expanding its presence in the mid-Atlantic region since its 2003 acquisition of Allfirst Financial Inc. M&T acquired two more Baltimore-area banks last year, Provident and Bradford banks. According to Wilmers, the company has no firm expansion plans in Buffalo or the mid-Atlantic area, though "opportunities may come along," he said.

Wilmers is M&T's second-largest shareholder. Its largest, Allied Irish Banks PLC, plans to sell its stake, which totals 22.49 percent, by the end of the year in order to help raise $9.96 billion mandated by the Irish government.

M&T operates 778 branches and 1,767 ATMs across its footprint, which includes New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. As of March 31, M&T's assets totaled $68.4 billion, up 5.3 percent from $64.9 billion a year ago.