The Bank is a full-service commercial bank offering a broad range of commercial
and consumer banking services to small- to medium-sized businesses, single-family
residential and commercial contractors and consumers. Lending services include
commercial loans to small to medium-sized businesses and professional concerns
as well as consumers. The Bank offers a wide range of deposit services including
demand deposits, regular savings accounts, money market accounts, individual
retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit with fixed rates and a range
of maturity options. The Bank also offers wealth management and trust services.
These services are provided through a variety of delivery systems including
automated teller machines, mobile banking and Internet banking. During the fourth
quarter of 2012, the Bank added the Small Business Administration (“SBA”)
division, with loan production offices in various states.
We offer a full range of lending products, including commercial loans to small-
to medium-sized businesses and professional concerns, real estate loans and
consumer loans. We compete for these loans with competitors who are well established
in our primary market area and have greater resources and lending limits. As
a result, we currently have to offer more flexible pricing and terms to attract
borrowers.
The Bank’s delegations of authority, which are approved by the Board of
Directors, provide for various levels of officer lending authority. The Bank
has an independent review that evaluates the quality of loans on a periodic
basis and determines if loans are originated in accordance with the guidelines
established by the Board of Directors. Additionally, our Board of Directors
has formed a Directors’ Loan Committee with members determined by board
resolution to provide the following oversight:
ensure compliance with loan policy, procedures and guidelines as well as appropriate
regulatory requirements;
approve loans with net bank exposure over $2,000,000;
monitor delinquent, non-accrual loans and classified loans;
monitor loan portfolio concentrations and quality through a variety of metrics;
monitor our loan servicing and review systems; and
review the adequacy of the loan loss reserve.
We follow a conservative lending policy, but one which we believe permits prudent
risks to assist businesses and consumers in our lending market. Interest rates
vary depending on our cost of funds, the loan maturity, the degree of risk and
other loan terms. The Bank does not make any loans to any of its directors,
executive officers or their affiliates.
The principal economic risk associated with each category of loans that the
Bank makes is the creditworthiness of the borrower. Borrower creditworthiness
is affected by general economic conditions and the strength of the relevant
business market segment. General economic factors affecting a borrower’s
ability to repay include interest, inflation and employment rates, as well as
other factors affecting a borrower’s customers, suppliers and employees.
The well-established financial institutions in our primary service area currently
make proportionately more loans to medium- to large-sized businesses than the
Bank. Many of the Bank’s anticipated commercial loans will likely be made
to small- to medium-sized businesses that may be less able to withstand competitive,
economic and financial pressures than larger borrowers.
The Bank invests a portion of its assets in U.S. Treasuries, U.S. government
agencies, mortgage-backed securities, direct obligations of quasi government
agencies including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank,
and federal funds sold. No investment in any of those instruments exceeds any
applicable limitation imposed by law or regulation. The Bank’s investments
are managed in relation to loan demand and deposit growth, and are generally
used to provide for the investment of excess funds at minimal risks while providing
liquidity to fund increases in loan demand or to offset deposit fluctuations.
The Bank’s Asset-Liability Committee reviews the investment portfolio
on an ongoing basis in order to ensure that the investments conform to the Bank’s
policy as set by the Board of Directors.