Organization
Bar Harbor Bankshares (the “Company”) (“BHB”) was incorporated under the laws of the state of Maine on January 19, 1984. At December 31, 2011, the Company had total consolidated assets of $1.17 billion and total shareholders’ equity of $118.3 million.
The Company has one, wholly-owned first tier operating subsidiary, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust (the “Bank”), a community bank, which offers a wide range of deposit, loan, and related banking products, as well as brokerage services provided through a third-party brokerage arrangement. In addition, the Company offers trust and investment management services through its second tier subsidiary, Bar Harbor Trust Services (“Trust Services”), a Maine chartered non-depository trust company. These products and services are offered to individuals, businesses, not-for-profit organizations and municipalities.
The Company is a bank holding company (“BHC”) registered under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “BHC Act”), and is subject to supervision, regulation and examination by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “FRB”). The Company is also a Maine Financial Institution Holding Company for the purposes of the laws of the state of Maine, and as such is subject to the jurisdiction of the Superintendent (the “Superintendent”) of the Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions (“BFI”).
The Bank, originally founded in 1887, is a Maine financial institution, and its deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) up to the maximum extent permitted by law. The Bank is subject to the supervision, regulation, and examination of the FDIC and the BFI. It is not a member of the Federal Reserve Bank.
The Bank has twelve (12) branch offices located throughout downeast and midcoast Maine, including its principal office located at 82 Main Street, Bar Harbor. The Bank’s offices are located in Hancock, Washington, and Knox Counties, representing the Bank’s principal market areas. The Hancock County offices, in addition to Bar Harbor, are located in Blue Hill, Deer Isle, Ellsworth, Northeast Harbor, Somesville, Southwest Harbor, and Winter Harbor. The Washington County offices are located in Milbridge, Machias, and Lubec. The Knox County office is located in Rockland. The Bank delivers its operations and technology support services from its operations center located in Ellsworth, Maine.
The Bank is a retail bank serving individual and business customers, retail establishments and restaurants, seasonal lodging, biological research laboratories, and a large contingent of retirees. As a coastal bank, it serves the tourism, hospitality, lobstering, fishing, boat building and marine services industries. It also serves Maine’s wild blueberry industry through its Hancock and Washington County offices. The Bank operates in a competitive market that includes other community banks, savings institutions, credit unions, and branch offices of statewide and interstate bank holding companies located in the Bank’s market area.
The Bank has a broad deposit base and loss of any one depositor or closely aligned group of depositors would not have a material adverse effect on its business. Historically, the banking business in the Bank’s market area has been seasonal, with lower deposits in the winter and spring, and higher deposits in the summer and autumn. These seasonal swings have been fairly predictable and have historically not had a material adverse impact on the Bank or its liquidity position. Approximately 91.3% of the Bank’s deposits are in interest bearing accounts. The Bank has paid, and anticipates that it will continue to pay, competitive interest rates on all of the deposit account products it offers and does not anticipate any material loss of these deposits.
The Bank emphasizes personal service to the community, with a concentration on retail banking. Customers are primarily individuals and small businesses to which the Bank offers a wide variety of products and services.
Retail Products and Services: The Bank offers a variety of consumer financial products and services designed to satisfy the deposit and borrowing needs of its retail customers. The Bank’s retail deposit products and services include checking accounts, interest bearing NOW accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, club accounts, short-term and long-term certificates of deposit, Health Savings Accounts, and Individual Retirement Accounts. Credit products and services include home mortgages, residential construction loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, credit cards, installment loans, and overdraft protection services. The Bank provides secured and unsecured installment loans for new or used automobiles, boats, recreational vehicles, mobile homes and other personal needs. The Bank also offers other customary products and services such as safe deposit box rentals, wire transfers, check collection services, foreign currency exchange, money orders, and U.S. Savings Bonds redemptions.
The Bank staffs a customer service center, providing customers with telephone and e-mail responses to their questions and needs. The Bank also offers free banking-by-mail services.
Retail Brokerage Services: The Bank retains Infinex Investments, Inc., (“Infinex”) as a full service third-party broker-dealer, conducting business under the assumed business name “Bar Harbor Financial Services.” Bar Harbor Financial Services is a branch office of Infinex, an independent registered broker-dealer offering securities and insurance products that is not affiliated with the Company or its subsidiaries. These products are not deposits, are not insured by the FDIC or any other government agency, are not guaranteed by the Bank or any affiliate, and may be subject to investment risk, including possible loss of value.
Bar Harbor Financial Services principally serves the brokerage needs of individuals, from first-time purchasers, to sophisticated investors. It also offers a line of life insurance, annuity, and retirement products, as well as financial planning services. Infinex was formed by a group of member banks, and is reportedly one of the largest providers of third party investment and insurance services to banks and their customers in New England. Through Infinex, the Bank is able to take advantage of the expertise, capabilities, and experience of a well-established third-party broker-dealer in a cost effective manner.
Electronic Banking Services: The Bank continues to offer free Internet banking services, including free check images and electronic bill payment, through its dedicated website at www.BHBT.com. Additionally, the Bank offers TeleDirect, an interactive voice response system through which customers can check account balances and activity, as well as initiate money transfers between their accounts. Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) are located at each of the Bank’s twelve (12) branch locations. The Bank is also a member of Maine Cash Access, providing customers with surcharge-free access to 170 ATMs throughout the state of Maine. Visa debit cards are also offered, providing customers with free access to their deposit account balances at point of sale locations throughout most of the world.
Commercial Products and Services: The Bank serves the small business market throughout downeast and midcoast Maine. It offers business loans to individuals, partnerships, corporations, and other business entities for capital construction, real estate and equipment financing, working capital, real estate development, and a broad range of other business purposes. Business loans are provided primarily to organizations and sole proprietors in the tourism, hospitality, healthcare, blueberry, boatbuilding, biological research, and fishing industries, as well as to other small and mid-size businesses associated with coastal communities. Certain larger loans, which exceed the Bank’s lending limits, are written on a participation basis with other financial institutions, whereby the Bank retains only such portions of those loans that are within its lending limits and credit risk tolerances.
The Bank offers a variety of commercial deposit accounts, most notably business checking and tiered money market accounts. These accounts are typically used as operating accounts or short-term savings vehicles. The Bank’s cash management services provide business customers with short-term investment opportunities through a cash management sweep program, whereby excess operating funds over established thresholds are swept into overnight securities sold under agreements to repurchase. The Bank also offers Business On-Line Direct (“BOLD”) an Internet banking service for businesses. This service allows business clients to view their account histories, print statements, view check images, order stop payments, transfer funds between accounts, and transmit Automated Clearing House (ACH) files. The Bank also offers remote deposit capture, enabling its business customers to deposit checks remotely. Other commercial banking services include merchant credit card processing provided through a third party vendor, night depository, and coin and currency handling.
Trust Services is a Maine chartered non-depository trust company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank. Trust Services provides a comprehensive array of trust and investment management services to individuals, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and municipalities of varying asset size.
Trust Services serves as trustee of both living trusts and trusts under wills, including revocable and irrevocable, charitable remainder and testamentary trusts, and in this capacity holds, accounts for and manages financial assets, real estate and special assets. Trust Services offers custody, estate settlement, and fiduciary tax services. Additionally, Trust Services offers employee benefit trust services for which it acts as trustee, custodian, administrator and/or investment advisor, for employee benefit plans and for corporate, self-employed, municipal and not-for-profit employers located throughout the Company’s market areas.
The staff includes credentialed investment and trust professionals with extensive experience. At December 31, 2011, Trust Services served 758 client accounts, with assets under management and assets held in custody amounting to $333.9 million and $23.7 million, respectively.
Competition
The Company competes principally in downeast and midcoast Maine, which can generally be characterized as rural areas. The Company considers its primary market areas to be in Hancock, Knox, and Washington counties, each in the state of Maine. According to the 2010 Census Bureau Report estimate, the population of these three counties was 54,418, 39,736, and 32,856, respectively, representing a combined population of approximately 127,010. The economies in these three counties are based primarily on tourism, healthcare, fishing, aquaculture, agriculture, and small local businesses, but are also supported by a large contingent of retirees. Major competitors in these market areas include local independent banks, local branches of large regional bank affiliates, thrift institutions, savings and loan institutions, mortgage companies, and credit unions. Other competitors in the Company’s primary market area include financing affiliates of consumer durable goods manufacturers, insurance companies, brokerage firms, investment advisors, and other non-bank financial service providers.
Like most financial institutions in the United States, the Company competes with an ever-increasing array of financial service providers. As the national economy moves further towards a concentration of service companies, competitive pressures will mount.
The Company has generally been able to compete effectively with other financial institutions by emphasizing quality customer service, making decisions at the local level, maintaining long-term customer relationships, building customer loyalty, and providing products and services designed to address the specific needs of customers; however, no assurance can be given that the Company will continue to be able to compete effectively with other financial institutions in the future.
No material part of the Company’s business is dependent upon one, or a few customers, or upon a particular industry segment, the loss of which would have a material adverse impact on the operations of the Company.
Management and Employees
The Company has two principal officers: Joseph M. Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Gerald Shencavitz, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.
Joseph M. Murphy also serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank. Gerald Shencavitz also serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer of the Bank, and Chief Financial Officer of Trust Services. Other senior operating positions in the Company include a President of Trust Services and Executive Vice Presidents in charge of retail banking, business banking and risk management, and Senior Vice Presidents in charge of human resources and sales & marketing.
As of December 31, 2011, the Bank employed 152 full-time equivalent employees, Trust Services employed 13 full-time equivalent employees, and the holding company employed 3 full-time employees, representing a full-time equivalent complement of 168 employees of the Company.
The Company maintains comprehensive employee benefit programs, which provide health, dental, long-term and short-term disability, and life insurance. All Company employees are eligible for participation in the Bar Harbor Bankshares 401(k) Plan provided they meet minimum age and service requirements. Certain officers and employees of the Company and its subsidiaries also participate in the Company’s 2000 and 2009 Stock Option Plans and/or have incentive bonus compensation plans, supplemental executive retirement agreements and change in control, confidentiality and non-compete agreements.
The Company’s management believes that employee relations are good and there are no known disputes between management and employees.
Supervision and Regulation
In addition to the generally applicable state and federal laws governing businesses and employers, bank holding companies and banks are extensively regulated under both federal and state law. With few exceptions, state and federal banking laws have as their principal objective either the maintenance of the safety and soundness of the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”) of the FDIC or the protection of consumers or classes of consumers, rather than the specific protection of the shareholders of the Company. Bank holding companies and banks that fail to conduct their operations in a safe and sound basis or in compliance with applicable laws can be compelled by the regulators to change the way they do business and may be subject to regulatory enforcement actions, including restrictions imposed on their operations. To the extent that the following information describes statutory and regulatory provisions, it is qualified in its entirety by reference to those particular statutory and regulatory provisions. Any change in applicable laws or regulations may have an adverse effect on the results of operation and financial condition of the Company and the Bank.
Primary Federal Regulators
The primary federal banking regulatory authority for the Company is the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “FRB”), acting pursuant to its authority to regulate bank holding companies. The primary federal regulatory authority of the Bank is the FDIC because the Bank is an insured depository institution which is not a member bank of the Federal Reserve System.
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
On July 21, 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) was signed into law. The goals of the Dodd-Frank Act include restoring public confidence in the financial system following the financial and credit crises, preventing another financial crisis and allowing regulators to identify failings in the system before another crisis can occur. Further, the Dodd-Frank Act is intended to effect a fundamental restructuring of federal banking regulation by taking a systemic view of regulation rather than focusing on prudential regulation of individual financial institutions. However, the Dodd-Frank Act itself may be more appropriately considered as a blueprint for regulatory change, as many of the provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act require that regulatory agencies draft implementing regulations. In many cases, such implementing regulations have not yet been promulgated and it may be, in some cases, years before the study and rulemaking processes called for by the Dodd-Frank Act are concluded. Among other significant developments, the Dodd-Frank Act created a new Financial Stability Oversight Council to identify systemic risks in the financial system, and in an effort to end the notion that any financial institution is “too big to fail,” gave federal regulators new authority to take control of and liquidate systemically important but distressed financial firms. The Dodd-Frank Act additionally created a new independent federal regulator, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”), which, as of July 21, 2011, is exclusively authorized to draft rules for designated federal consumer protection laws. The CFPB shares examination, supervision and enforcement authority with other federal regulators. Despite its broad scope in certain banking areas, the Dodd-Frank Act generally does not provide significant regulatory reform regarding Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Federal Home Loan Bank System. The Dodd-Frank Act is expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s business operations as its provisions and implementing regulations continue to take effect. Among the provisions that are likely to affect the Company or the Bank are the following:
Deposit Insurance. The Dodd-Frank Act permanently increased the maximum deposit insurance amount for banks, savings institutions and credit unions to $250,000 per depositor, and extended unlimited deposit insurance to non-interest bearing transaction accounts until December 31, 2012. The Dodd-Frank Act also broadened the FDIC insurance assessment base. Assessments are now generally based on the average consolidated total assets less the average tangible equity capital of an institution, rather than on the deposit base of such institution. The Dodd-Frank Act (i) requires the FDIC to increase the DIF’s reserve ratio from 1.15% to 1.35% of insured deposits by September 30, 2020, (ii) removes the upper limit of 1.5% on the DIF’s designated reserve ratio, which is a long-term target ratio, and (iii) requires the FDIC to offset the effect on insured depository institutions with total consolidated assets of less than $10 billion. The Dodd-Frank Act also eliminated the requirement that the FDIC pay dividends from the DIF when the reserve ratio is between 1.35% and 1.5%, and continues the FDIC’s authority to declare dividends when the reserve ratio at the end of a calendar year is at least 1.5%. However, the FDIC is granted sole discretion in determining whether to suspend or limit the declaration or payment of dividends.
Corporate Governance. The Dodd-Frank Act and the implementing regulations thereunder require publicly traded companies to give shareholders a non-binding vote on (i) executive compensation, commonly referred to as a “say-on-pay” vote, at their first annual meeting taking place after January 21, 2011 and at least once every three years thereafter and (ii) on so-called “golden parachute” payments in connection with approvals of mergers and acquisitions unless previously voted on by shareholders. In 2010, the SEC adopted Rule 14a-11 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the “proxy access” rule, which provided that eligible shareholders may require a company to include one or more nominees in the company’s proxy materials, unless applicable laws or corporate governance documents prohibited shareholder nominations; however, after litigation in which the presiding court vacated Rule 14a-11, the SEC announced that it would not appeal the Rule 14a-11 decision and did not intend to revisit the subject of “proxy access” in the near future. The court decision invalidating Rule 14a-11, however, did not impact the SEC’s amendments to Rule 14a-8, the “shareholder proposal” rule which the SEC had adopted at the same time as Rule 14a-11. Rule 14a-8 became effective September 20, 2011. Accordingly, Rule 14a-8 now requires companies to include in their proxy materials, under certain circumstances, shareholder proposals that seek to establish a procedure in the company’s governing documents for the inclusion of shareholder director nominees in the company’s proxy materials. Additionally, the Dodd-Frank Act directs the federal banking regulators to promulgate rules prohibiting excessive compensation paid to executives of depository institutions and their holding companies with assets in excess of $10 billion, regardless of whether the company is publicly traded or not. During April 2011, federal banking and other regulators issued a proposed rule which would prohibit covered financial institutions from having incentive compensation arrangements which provide excessive compensation or which could expose the institution to inappropriate risks that could lead to material financial loss. However, as of January 2012 no final rule has yet been adopted. The Dodd-Frank Act also prohibits broker discretionary voting on elections of directors and executive compensation matters.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Mortgage Origination. The Dodd-Frank Act created a new, independent federal agency, the CFPB, which has broad rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement powers under various designated federal consumer financial protection laws, including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Truth in Lending Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Act, the Consumer Financial Privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and certain other statutes. The CFPB is charged with protecting consumers from unfair or deceptive financial products, acts or practices, and the Company expects that the CFPB will take an aggressive stance in consumer protection matters. For the purpose of assessing compliance with designated federal consumer financial protection laws, the CFPB has exclusive examination and primary enforcement authority with respect to depository institutions with $10 billion or more in total assets. Following the June 30, 2011 initial determination of whether an institution has $10 billion or more in total assets, such $10 billion threshold will be determined by regulators on the basis of whether an institution has reported $10 billion or more in total assets in its quarterly call report for four consecutive quarters. Smaller institutions, including the Company and the Bank, are subject to rules promulgated by the CFPB but continue to be examined and supervised by the federal banking regulators responsible for such institutions prior to July 21, 2011. On July 21, 2011, enforcement and rulemaking authority for consumer financial protection was officially transferred from other federal regulators to the CFPB.
The Dodd-Frank Act prohibits creditors from making residential mortgage loans unless the creditor makes a good faith determination, based on verified and documented information that, at the time loan was consummated, the consumer had the reasonable ability to repay the loan, according to its terms, as well as all applicable taxes, insurance and assessments, and the CFPB is authorized to establish certain minimum standards regarding same. In April 2011, the FRB proposed ability to repay regulations and the CFPB, which as of July 21, 2011 assumed responsibility for drafting regulations under the Truth In Lending Act of 1968, as amended (“TILA”), indicated that it anticipated finalizing such regulations in early 2012. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act allows borrowers to raise certain defenses to foreclosure if they receive any loan other than a “qualified mortgage” (which term remains to be defined by the CFPB), or if anti-steering prohibitions, discussed below, are violated.
The Dodd-Frank Act also contains a series of new mortgage loan origination standards including prohibiting mortgage originators, which includes loan officers of banks, from receiving from any person, or any person from paying such mortgage originator, directly or indirectly, compensation that varies based on terms of a loan other than the principal amount of the loan. In addition, the CFPB is required to prescribe regulations prohibiting mortgage originators from (i) steering any consumer to a loan that (a) the consumer lacks the reasonable ability to repay, or (b) has predatory characteristics or effects such as equity stripping, excessive fees or abusive terms; (ii) steering any consumer from a “qualified mortgage” to a non-qualified mortgage when the consumer qualifies for a qualified mortgage; (iii) abusive or unfair lending practices that promote disparities among consumers of equal creditworthiness but of different race, ethnicity, gender, or age, and (iv) engaging in certain other conduct. In September 2010 and independent of the Dodd-Frank Act’s requirements, the FRB enacted similar regulations regarding anti-steering and loan originator compensation, and these regulations will eventually be supplemented or revised by the rules to be promulgated pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act. Although there are many elements of a “qualified mortgage,” and the CFPB has the authority to revise the definition of a qualified mortgage as it deems appropriate, one element which must be satisfied to be a qualified mortgage is that total points and fees payable in connection with a loan may not exceed 3% of the total loan amount.
The Dodd-Frank Act also prohibits prepayment penalties for all loans that are not qualified mortgages and, for qualified mortgages, prepayment penalties must be phased out over a three-year period following consummation of the loan. Lenders will also be required to offer a loan without a prepayment penalty if they offer a loan with a prepayment penalty. The Dodd-Frank Act permits states to adopt consumer protection laws and standards that are more stringent than those adopted at the federal level and, in certain circumstances, permits state attorneys general to enforce compliance with both the state and federal laws and regulations. Under amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1978 (the “FCRA”), effective January 1, 2011, a creditor is required to either provide (i) a notice (a “Risk-Based Pricing Notice”) to a consumer when, based in whole or part on information in a consumer report, the creditor provides credit to the consumer on material terms that were materially less favorable than the most favorable terms available from that creditor to a substantial proportion of other consumers or (ii) in lieu of providing a Risk-Based Pricing Notice to a consumer receiving worse credit terms, a creditor may provide a credit score exception notice to the consumer who requested credit. Effective July 21, 2011, the Dodd-Frank Act amended the FCRA to require that if a consumer is to receive a Risk-Based Pricing Notice, the creditor must disclose the consumer’s credit score and certain additional information relating to the credit score in its Risk-Based Pricing Notice. During 2011, the FRB and the Federal Trade Commission jointly published additional final rules requiring that additional information be disclosed in Risk-Based Pricing Notices and provided model Risk-Based Pricing Notices containing the additional information required for disclosure.
Transactions with Affiliates and Insiders. Effective July 21, 2011, the Dodd-Frank Act applies Section 23A of the Federal Reserve Act and Section 22(h) of the Federal Reserve Act (governing transactions with insiders) to derivative transactions, repurchase agreements and securities lending and borrowing transactions that create credit exposure to an affiliate or an insider. Any such transactions with affiliates must be fully secured. The current exemption from Section 23A for transactions with financial subsidiaries is eliminated. The Dodd-Frank Act additionally prohibits an insured depository institution from purchasing an asset from or selling an asset to an insider unless the transaction is on market terms and, if representing more than 10% of capital, is approved in advance by the institution’s disinterested directors.
Interstate Branching. The Dodd-Frank Act authorizes national and state banks to establish de novo branches in other states to the same extent as a bank chartered by that state would be permitted to branch. Previously, as provided in the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 (the “Interstate Act”), banks could only establish branches in other states if the host state expressly permitted out-of-state banks to establish branches in that state. Accordingly, banks will be able to enter new markets more freely, but will still need to adhere to the applicable state law requirements of the host state.