Upstate New York Thrift Wins Tentative Nod for a Charter Flip

A small upstate New York thrift is switching to a national bank charter.

Adirondack Bank, with $101 million of assets, has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to flip charters.

President and chief executive Francis C. Thalmann declined to discuss the thrift's reasons for converting.

The approval depends on Adirondack's ability to meet the standards of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which are different than those of Adirondack's current regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Among the conditions are that Adirondack maintain a Tier 1 leverage capital ratio of at least 5.5% and that its officials enhance the thrift's credit policies - for example, by instituting annual reviews of large loans and updating credit information.

The thrift must also identify any middle-management weaknesses and develop a plan to fill any vacancies. And the plan must address how management will ensure proper internal auditing and compliance with federal regulations.

Finally, the board must develop a policy to control the use of borrowings to fund loan growth and to impose a limit on the thrift's loan- to-deposit ratio.

Adirondack has six months to complete the conversion, but Mr. Thalmann said the thrift expects to convert by Sept. 30.

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