Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › Missouri › The Cotton Exchange Bank
What happened to The Cotton Exchange Bank?
The Cotton Exchange Bank in Kennett, MO merged into Commerce Bank of Southeast Missouri, National Association of Clayton, MO on Mar 10, 1995. After 2 more changes of hands, what was The Cotton Exchange Bank is today part of Commerce Bank (Kansas City, MO).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1900The Cotton Exchange Bank opens in Kennett, MO
- Mar 10, 1995MERGEDThe Cotton Exchange Bank merged into Commerce Bank of Southeast Missouri, National Association of Clayton, MO.FDIC certificate 12467 ends; its business continues under certificate 1657.
- Dec 31, 1996MERGEDCommerce Bank of Southeast Missouri, National Association (by then renamed Commerce Bank, National Association) of Clayton, MO merged into Commerce Bank of Hannibal, National Association of Clayton, MO.FDIC certificate 1657 ends; its business continues under certificate 1425.
- Dec 31, 1997MERGEDCommerce Bank of Hannibal, National Association (by then renamed Commerce Bank, National Association) of Clayton, MO merged into Commerce Bank, National Association of Kansas City, MO.FDIC certificate 1425 ends; its business continues under certificate 24998.
- TodayOPEN
Commerce BankMain office Kansas City, MO · FDIC certificate 24998 · 151 offices in 9 states on June 30, 2026Every Commerce Bank office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.commercebank.com
If you still have something from The Cotton Exchange Bank
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows The Cotton Exchange Bank as lienholder, start with Commerce Bank. In a merger the surviving bank takes over the other bank's loans, so it is the bank to ask for a recordable lien release; if the loan was sold along the way, it can tell you to whom.
The FDIC says it cannot process lien releases for banks that merged or were acquired without government assistance, which is what the record shows here.
Record the release with the same county office that recorded the original mortgage or deed of trust.
An old account, passbook or CD
Ask Commerce Bank to search for the account under the name The Cotton Exchange Bank. A passbook or certificate shows an account existed. It doesn't show the money is still there, and the OCC notes that federal rules require banks to keep most account records for five years.
Accounts nobody touches are eventually turned over to a state. The OCC puts the usual wait at three to five years with no activity, set by each state's law. Search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and any other state they lived in. It is free to search and to claim through a state's own site, and MissingMoney.com, an official site of the state administrators' association, searches most states at once.
A safe deposit box
Ask Commerce Bank which branch now holds boxes from the The Cotton Exchange Bank office you used. The OCC says a box with no activity for three to five years (the period is set by state statute) is likely treated as dormant, and its contents may be turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain. The office list below shows which bank each office reports under now.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Its offices in the FDIC deposit reports
2 offices filed under this charter in some year from 1994 on. None is still reporting as of June 30, 2026.
| Office | Now |
|---|---|
| 301 First StreetKennett, MO | No longer reported |
| 1501 St. Francis StreetKennett, MO | No longer reported |
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 12467 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.