BOK Fin'l chairman gives credit line after SemGroup

NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - The chairman and principal shareholder of BOK Financial Corp (BOKF.O) has extended an $188 million unsecured credit line to the Oklahoma banking company after it suffered losses tied to this week's bankruptcy of energy trader SemGroup LP.

According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday, Chairman George Kaiser extended the revolving credit line on July 21.

The financing replaced a credit facility that BOK had with a group of commercial banks since Dec 2, 2005, and which BOK had asked to be terminated, the filing shows.

Kaiser appeared last September on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans.

According to the filing, Tulsa-based BOK said it expects to recognize $87 million of pre-tax charges tied to its $147 million of credit exposure to SemGroup.

It said these charges include $16 million disclosed last week, plus an additional $71 million that will also be reflected in second-quarter financial statements.

Kaiser, BOK Chief Financial Officer Steven Nell, and a BOK spokesman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Nell told the Tulsa World newspaper that the new credit line allows BOK to borrow the same amount as it could with the six banks, but under less restrictive conditions.

He also said the bank maintains a strong capital position, and did not need the new credit line to bolster capital, according to the newspaper. BOK said it ended June with $22.5 billion of assets.