Suspect Loan Spurs a 4Q Revision

S.Y. Bancorp Inc. in Louisville announced revised fourth-quarter and full-year results after discovering a fraud-related problem loan.

The $1.8 billion-asset company said Friday that it had charged off the entire $4.1 million loan relationship and provisioned an equal amount. As a result its loan-loss provision for the year rose to $12.775 million.

This also caused a reduction, to $16.3 million, in the company's annual earnings. For the year, earnings were off 25% from a year earlier.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the loan had been secured by business assets and life insurance.

"Subsequent to yearend, management discovered that the guarantor had multiple borrowing relationships with other lenders; has been named as a defendant in two lawsuits, one of which alleged fraud, and has personally filed for bankruptcy protection," S.Y. Bancorp said in the filing. Though "the borrower has not filed for bankruptcy protection, information gathered from the personal bankruptcy and disclosed by the guarantor's counsel leads management to believe that the financial records of the borrower have been falsified, the collateral pledged to secure the loans has little or no value and the borrower and guarantor have no ability to perform."

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