June
1, 2003
Vol. XXXII, No. 6
BostonFed Bancorp to Merge Subsidiaries
BostonFed Bancorp, Burlington, MA, announced on May
14, 2003, that it plans to combine its two subsidiary
banks, Boston Federal Savings Bank, Burlington, MA,
and Broadway National Bank of Chelsea, Chelsea, MA.
The two banks have been affiliated since BostonFed acquired
Broadway National in 1997. Boston Federal Savings Bank
will be the surviving entity of the merger. Broadway
National's separate corporate and legal existence will
be discontinued, and its two full service branches will
become part of Boston Federal's network of eight branches
in the Boston area.
A press release by BostonFed stated: "The company
anticipates that the merger will benefit customers and
communities by creating a more convenient and efficient
branch network available to customers of both banks;
increasing certain operating efficiencies of the combined
BFSB and Broadway; and permitting the combined bank
to continue strengthening commitments to meet community
needs."
As of June 30, 2002, BostonFed Bancorp had total deposits
of $930.6 million and ranked 20th among all commercial
bank and thrift institutions in Massachusetts.
(SNL Bank & Thrift Weekly, 5/19/03; BostonFed
PR, 5/14/03)
Merger Approvals
On May 28, 2003, Seacoast Financial Services, New Bedford,
MA, announced that it had received regulatory approval
to proceed with the company's purchase of Bay State
Bancorp, Brookline, MA. Seacoast previously announced
that Bay State's shareholders had voted on April 30,
to approve the sale. The merger was announced in December
and was expected to close on May 31. Bay State's subsidiary
Bay State Federal Savings Bank operates six branches
in the Boston area, while Seacoast Financial operates
43 branches in southeastern Massachusetts through its
two subsidiaries, CompassBank and Nantucket Bank. Upon
completion of the deal, Bay State Federal will be merged
into CompassBank, although it will operate under its
current name until the banks are fully integrated, which
is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2003.
As of June 30, 2002, Bay State Bancorp had total deposits
of $339.8 million and ranked 61st among all commercial
bank and thrift institutions in Massachusetts. As of
the same date, Seacoast Financial had total deposits
of $2.4 billion and ranked 10th.
(SNL Bank & Thrift Daily, 5/29/03; SNL Bank &
Thrift Weekly, 5/12/03; Seacoast PR, 5/7/03)
Merger Completion
Effective May 17, 2003, Citizens Savings Bank &
Trust Company, St. Johnsbury, VT, merged with Union
Bank, Morrisville, VT, under the charter and title of
Union Bank. The transaction, which was announced in
February, represents the merger of the subsidiary banks
of Union Bankshares, Morrisville, VT. The four Citizens
Savings branches in northeastern Vermont will remain
open under the Citizens Savings name.
As of June 30, 2002, Union Bankshares had total deposits
of $280.0 million and ranked 7th among all commercial
bank and thrift institutions in Vermont.
(Internal Notice, 5/19/03)
Bank Address Change
On April 28, The Bank of Western Massachusetts, Springfield,
MA, relocated its main office from 29 State Street to
1391 Main Street, Springfield, MA. The original State
Street office will remain as a branch banking office.
(Internal Notice, 5/13/03)
Branch Opening
On May 5, Enterprise Bank & Trust Company, Lowell,
MA, opened a branch located at 420 John Fitch Highway,
Fitchburg, MA.
First County Bank, Stamford, CT, opened a branch located
at 469 Westport Avenue, Norwalk, CT, on May 7.
(Internal Notice, 5/5/03; CT DOB, 5/9/03)
Branch Address Changes
On April 26, Northwest Community Bank, Winsted, CT,
relocated its Avon branch from 20 Main Street to 101
Simsbury Road, Avon, CT.
Rockland Trust Company, Rockland, MA, relocated its
branch from the intersection of Routes 151 and 2 to
5 Shellback Way, Mashpee, MA, on May 5.
On May 9, Fleet National Bank, Providence, RI, relocated
its branch from 1610 Tremont Street to 1614 Tremont
Street, Boston, MA.
The Westborough Savings Bank, Westborough, MA, relocated
its branch from 19 Maple Avenue to 23 Maple Avenue,
Shewsbury, MA, on May 12.
(Internal Notice, 5/22/03, 5/28/03)
Branch Closings
In September 2002, Fleet National Bank, Providence,
RI, closed its branches located at Speedway Plaza, Westborough,
MA, Route 134, Dennis, MA, and 8-B Allstate Road, Dorchester,
MA. Fleet also closed the following Stop & Shop
branches in Massachusetts: 949 Grafton Street and 940
West Boylston Street, Worcester; 683 Belmont Street,
West Brockton; 301 Newbury Street, Danvers; 100 Carlton
Road, Sturbridge; 1277 Liberty Street, East Springfield;
Route 6, Somerset; 160 Summer Street, Kingston; 206
East Washington Street, North Attleboro; 151 VFW Highway,
Revere; 235 Old Connecticut Path and 19 Temple Street,
Framingham; 450 Paradise Road, Swampscott; and 80-90
New State Highway, Raynham.
On March 14, 2003, Fleet closed its Pathmark Supermarket
branch located at the intersection of Route 1 and Emmons
Drive, Windsor, NJ.
(Internal Notice, 5/22/03)
Boston Private to Acquire NY Investment Manager
On May 2, Boston Private Financial Holdings, Boston,
MA, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to
acquire an 80% interest in Dalton, Greiner, Hartman,
Maher & Co. (DGHM), New York, NY, for approximately
$75 million. DGHM management will retain the remaining
20% interest. DGHM, which has close to $2.2 billion
under management, was described by Boston Private as
"a value style manager specializing in small-cap
equities." Pending regulatory approval, the deal
is expected to close in the third quarter of 2003.
Boston Private currently has six operating companies
that focus on investment management, private banking,
and financial planning in New England and northern California.
In the company's statement Boston Private Chairman and
CEO Timothy Vaill said, "The acquisition of DGHM
expands our wealth management business into one of the
most attractive areas of the country. [DGHM] will provide
a foundation for growing our asset management business
in the New York metro region." He also added, "DGHM
is an important part of Boston Private's plan to replicate
our successful wealth management approach in geographic
areas with attractive demographics.… Over time,
we hope to establish additional capabilities in banking,
investing, and financial planning in New York City and
its environs."
Company officials recently revealed long- and short-term
growth strategies that Boston Private is pursuing. In
an interview with CBS MarketWatch on May 6, Mr. Vaill
signaled that the company may be ready to make more
deals in New York, saying Boston Private has identified
four or five small New York-based asset management firms
as acquisition targets. He added that deals are a priority
for Boston Private, especially given his expectation
that similar acquisition activity will pick up in the
near term. After announcing the deal for DGHM, Vaill
said that in the next three to eight years the company
wants to establish "clusters" of money management
and private banking firms in southern California, south
Florida, the District of Columbia, Atlanta, Chicago,
Denver, Dallas, and New York. Boston Private, which
serves high net worth individuals, seeks to attract
the newly affluent "who have made money in the
last 25 years" as customers. It has examined "where
the smart people want to live" because "the
dollars will follow them." Vaill added that the
company hopes to be in all of these regions in 10 years.
The company's growth strategy is to assemble a network
of local money managers who maintain their brand identities,
management teams, and partial ownership of their firms.
In addition to nationwide expansion, the company's
private banking subsidiary, Boston Private Bank &
Trust Company, plans to expand in New England. The bank's
longtime president and new CEO, Mark Thompson, recently
said the bank plans to open offices in and around Boston,
Portsmouth, NH, southern New Hampshire, and Newport,
RI.
As of June 30, 2002, Boston Private had total deposits
of $970.5 million and ranked 18th among all commercial
bank and thrift institution in Massachusetts and 33rd
in New England.
(SNL Bank & Thrift Weekly, 5/5/03, 5/12/03; Boston
Private PR, 5/2/03; American Banker, 5/6/03)
OTS Reports Thrift Earnings
The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) announced on
May 20 that the thrift industry recorded net earnings
of $3.33 billion for the first quarter of 2003, a 9%
increase from the first quarter of 2002. OTS Director
James Gilleran said, "The favorable interest rate
environment in the first quarter of 2003 continued to
support a mortgage refinance boom, leading to record
strength in earnings, profitability, and capital for
the thrift industry." The industry's net interest
margin declined to 300 basis points from 318 basis points
last year, but was up from 294 basis points for the
fourth quarter of 2002.
The agency said that although delinquencies for some
types of loans were up, overall credit quality remained
good. It said, "The strength in thrift portfolios
is due, in part, to the industry's concentration in
residential lending and its limited exposure to commercial
lending and nonmortgage consumer lending." Mortgage
originations totaled $161 billion for the quarter. Refinancings
accounted for 55% of originations, up from 49% in the
prior quarter.
Mr. Gilleran also noted that "over 99% of the
industry was well capitalized at the end of the quarter,
and for the first time since we began calculating capital
requirements under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Improvement Act in 1992, no thrift was less that adequately
capitalized." The number of problem thrifts declined
by 2 during the first quarter of 2003, to 12, while
assets at problem thrifts declined to $2.4 billion from
$2.6 billion at the end of 2002.
(SNL Bank & Thrift Weekly, 5/27/03)
NOTE: Items in this publication focus on developments affecting banking structure in New England. The items are condensations of articles from a selected group of daily newspapers and press releases of federal and state financial regulatory agencies. Their reproduction does not imply our endorsement of the accuracy, opinions or policies reflected in the subject matter. Bank Notes is available without charge. To subscribe, please use our online subscription form.
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