TCF National Bank, constituting the bulk of parent TCF Financial Corp.'s business, said today that it's taking its headquarters to Sioux Falls in a move that the company says is being done for regulatory reasons and won't mean any loss of jobs in Minnesota.

Jason Korstange, spokesman for Wayzata-based TCF Financial, said the move allows TCF National Bank to follow one set of regulations in a state known for being bureaucratically kind to multistate financial entities. Currently, TCF is juggling various regulatory requirements in Minnesota and six other states where it has branches.

"It's not a major deal," Korstange said. The move takes effect April 1, he said.

TCF will open its first branch in Sioux Falls on March 16 and employ 10-15 people there, Korstange said. That office will act as TCF National Bank's headquarters, he said.

"This is not a tax play," he said, given the aggressive advertising that Sioux Falls does on the Twin Cities radio stations trying to lure business over the border. Korstange said Minnesota will lose no tax revenue with the move.

"TCF's decision to relocate its charter to South Dakota may be an indication that they view our state's banking and business climate in a positive light," Curt Everson, president of the South Dakota Bankers Association, told the Sioux Falls Business Journal this week. "For many years, our elected governors and legislators have worked very hard in consultation with the business community to create a legal framework that encourages decisions like the one TCF has just made." TCF Financial employs about 3,000 people at its offices in Wayzata, TCF National Bank-Minnesota offices in Minneapolis and at branches around the state.

It has 448 branches in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482