Four more banks have announced their acceptance into the Treasury Department's stock purchase program, while two others who were already on the list said they had opted not to take any taxpayer money.
The four banks that were approved to sell preferred stock to the government through the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program would get a combined $41.9 million.
The two banks that decided against participating in the program - Dime Community Bancshares Inc. of New York and S.Y. Bancorp Inc. of Louisville, Ky. -- had been approved last month for a total of $120.3 million.
Access National Corp., based in Reston, Va., said Monday it had won approval to sell $16 million in preferred stock to the Treasury Department. First Southern Bancorp Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla., said it was approved for $10.9 million.
Oak Ridge Financial Services Inc., of Oak Ridge, N.C., said it was approved for $7.7 million in taxpayer capital. And Citizens Bancshares Corp., of Atlanta, said it could get as much as $7.3 million.
Dime Community Bancshares, the parent company of Dime Savings Bank of Willamsburgh, said it concluded that participating in the Treasury Department's Capital Purchase Program was not in the best interests of shareholders.
"We have consistently applied prudent underwriting standards to the loans in our mortgage portfolio, which consists primarily of rent-regulated multifamily residential dwellings located in New York City,'' Chairman Vincent F. Palagiano said in a prepared statement. "We believe that these assets have enough inherent stability to ensure that the bank will continue to be well capitalized.''
The bank had been approved for $77.3 million.
S.Y. Bancorp, the owner of Stock Yards Bank & Trust in Louisville, expressed similar sentiments. The company also raised concerns about some of the limitations that the Treasury Department places on recipients of the government money.
"The program's restrictions on possible future dividend increases, the dilution that could result from the associated warrants, and the uncertainty surrounding some details of the program represent unnecessary burden and risks for the company and its shareholders,'' said Chairman David Heintzman, whose bank was approved for $43 million.
The preferred stock the Treasury Department is buying carries an annual dividend of 5 percent a year for the first five years and 9 percent thereafter. The agency also gets warrants to buy common stock, which could provide a return to taxpayers if the value of the banks' shares rises as their financial condition improves.
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