The Savannah Bank, the parent company of Bryan Bank and Trust, announced this week it has entered into a written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to “take steps to improve the Bank’s asset quality, credit risk exposure, strategic planning initiatives, capital planning, and liquidity and risk management,” according to a press release.
The agreement is based upon findings of an OCC’s “Report of Examination” for the examination period that ended Dec. 31. It doesn’t affect the bank’s ability to continue to conduct its banking business with customers in a normal fashion, the press release said.
“Banking products and services, hours of business, Internet banking, ATM usage and FDIC deposit insurance coverage will all be unaffected,” the release states.
John C. Helmken II, president and CEO of Savannah Bancorp, said the bank has a “good and open” rapport with regulators.
“We felt The Savannah Bank’s continued profitability, strong capital ratios and conservative level of provisioning for loan losses through the building of our allowance would provide the regulatory buffer that we needed to prevent any formal regulatory actions,” he said.
“However, this agreement is centered primarily around the elevated level of classified assets – many of which are loans that continue to pay and perform as agreed.”
Since the completion of the OCC examination, Savannah Bank’s board of directors and bank officers “have aggressively worked to address the findings of the exam and have developed formal action plans to comply with the requirements of the agreement and concerns that gave rise to the agreement,” the release said, noting the bank still has a “well capitalized” status.
Helmken also said today’s economy has led to “clearly unprecedented times for our local markets and our bank.”
Customer deposits remain protected and insured by the FDIC up to $250,000 per depositor, the maximum allowed by law. Additionally, as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, unlimited FDIC insurance coverage applies to non interest-bearing deposit accounts and Lawyer’s Trust accounts through Dec. 31, 2012.
Savannah Bank enters deal with OCC
