– Acquisition Would Enable VersaBank
to Broadly Launch its Unique and Highly Successful Receivable
Purchase Program Financing Solution in the United States –
LONDON,
ON, June 7, 2024 /CNW/ - VersaBank (TSX:
VBNK) (NASDAQ: VBNK), a North American leader in
business-to-business digital banking, as well as technology
solutions for cybersecurity, today announced it has received formal
approval of its proposed acquisition of Minnesota-based Stearns Bank Holdingford (the
"Stearns Holdingford Acquisition"), a national OCC-licensed bank,
from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is one of
two U.S. regulatory approvals required for VersaBank to
proceed with the Stearns Holdingford Acquisition. VersaBank expects
a decision from the other U.S. regulatory authority, the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency (the "OCC") shortly.
Should VersaBank receive a favourable decision from the OCC,
it will immediately seek approval of the Stearns Holdingford
Acquisition from its Canadian regulator, the Office of the
Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI).
"Completion of this acquisition would enable VersaBank to
broadly launch our unique and attractive Receivable Purchase
Program (RPP) in the United
States," said David Taylor,
President and Chief Executive Officer, VersaBank. "For well over a
decade, we have proven out our RPP model in Canada and now look forward to the opportunity
to enter the world's largest financing market and further
capitalize on the significant operating leverage in our branchless,
business-to-business digital banking model."
The Federal Reserve's Order of Approval for the Stearns
Holdingford Acquisition is available here: Order Approving the
Acquisition of a Bank (federalreserve.gov).
About VersaBank
VersaBank is a Canadian Schedule I chartered (federally
licensed) bank with a difference. VersaBank became the world's
first fully digital financial institution when it adopted its
highly efficient business-to-business model in 1993 using its
proprietary state-of-the-art financial technology to profitably
address underserved segments of the Canadian banking market in the
pursuit of superior net interest margins while mitigating risk.
VersaBank obtains all of its deposits and provides the majority of
its loans and leases electronically, with innovative deposit and
lending solutions for financial intermediaries that allow them to
excel in their core businesses. In addition, leveraging its
internally developed IT security software and capabilities,
VersaBank established wholly owned, Washington, DC-based subsidiary, DRT Cyber
Inc. to pursue significant large-market opportunities in cyber
security and develop innovative solutions to address the rapidly
growing volume of cyber threats challenging financial institutions,
multi-national corporations and government entities on a daily
basis.
VersaBank's Common Shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange
("TSX") and Nasdaq under the symbol VBNK. Its Series 1 Preferred
Shares trade on the TSX under the symbol VBNK.PR.A.
Forward-Looking
Statements
VersaBank's public communications often include written or oral
forward-looking statements. Statements of this type are included in
this document, and may be included in other filings and with
Canadian securities regulators or the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, or in other communications. All such statements are
made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of, and are intended
to be forward-looking statements under, the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable
Canadian securities legislation. The statements in this press
release that relate to the future are forward-looking statements.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent
risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, many of which
are out of our control. Risks exist that predictions, forecasts,
projections, and other forward-looking statements will not be
achieved. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements as several important factors could
cause actual results to differ materially from the plans,
objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in
such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not
limited to, the strength of the Canadian and U.S. economy in
general and the strength of the local economies within Canada and U.S. in which we conduct
operations; the effects of changes in monetary and fiscal policy,
including changes in interest rate policies of the Bank of
Canada and the U.S. Federal
Reserve; changing global commodity prices; the effects of
competition in the markets in which we operate; inflation; capital
market fluctuations; the timely development and introduction of new
products in receptive markets; the impact of changes in the laws
and regulations pertaining to financial services; changes in tax
laws; technological changes; unexpected judicial or regulatory
proceedings; unexpected changes in consumer spending and savings
habits; the impact of wars or conflicts including the crisis in
Ukraine and the impact of the crisis on global supply chains;
the impact of new variants of COVID-19 and the Bank's anticipation
of and success in managing the risks implicated by the foregoing.
For a detailed discussion of certain key factors that may affect
our future results, please see our annual MD&A for the year
ended October 31, 2022.
The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. When
relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors
and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and
other uncertainties and potential events. The forward-looking
information contained in this document and the related management's
discussion and analysis is presented to assist our shareholders and
others in understanding our financial position and may not be
appropriate for any other purposes. Except as required by
securities law, we do not undertake to update any forward-looking
statement that is contained in this document and the related
management's discussion and analysis or made from time to time by
the Bank or on its behalf.
Visit our website at: www.versabank.com
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SOURCE VersaBank