Correspondence
July 1, 2011
Via Email
Mr. Christian Windsor
Special Counsel
Division of Corporate Finance
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549
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Re:
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File No. 000-29599 |
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Patriot National Bancorp, Inc. |
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Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2010 |
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Filed March 23, 2011 |
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Form 10-Q for Fiscal Quarter Ended March 31, 2011 |
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Filed May 13, 2011 |
Dear Mr. Windsor:
In response to your letter of June 17, 2011, we have reviewed the aforementioned filings and
carefully considered your comments and questions. Responses to your comments and questions are
outlined below and we are available to discuss any additional questions you may have.
Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2010
General
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1. It appears you have not held an annual meeting since 2009. Please tell us why you have not
held an annual meeting since 2009 and whether you have complied with NASDAQ listing rules and
state law. We note you held a special meeting in 2010. |
Patriot National Bancorp, Inc. (the Company) held an annual meeting in 2009 and intends to hold
an annual meeting in 2011.
In 2010, the Company conducted a Special Meeting of Shareholders. The Company believes that this
Special Meeting was the equivalent of an Annual Meeting. The purpose of that Meeting was to
consider a change of control transaction for the Company. As presented in the Proxy Statement for
that meeting, approval of the change of control agreement would result in a complete change in the
Board of Directors of the Company. The slate of new directors, who were to take office upon
consummation of the change in control, were named and their
Page 2
biographies were presented. Accordingly, each shareholder of the Company was informed that a vote
for the change in control agreement constituted a vote for the slate of new Directors. At the
Special Meeting, the Company also provided an opportunity for shareholders to discuss Company
affairs with management. Management of the Company made a presentation to the shareholders at the
Special Meeting, and the shareholders had an opportunity to ask questions of management and to make
comments as to Company affairs.
The Company discussed this issue in 2010 with an Associate Director of the Listing Qualifications
Department of NASDAQ OMX, who agreed with the Company that the Special Meeting was the equivalent
of an Annual Meeting in satisfaction of NASDAQ rules. The Company also believes that the Special
Meeting satisfied the requirements of Section 33-695 of the Connecticut Business Corporation Act.
Recent Legislative Developments, page 11
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2. We note that you entered into an agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in
June 2010. Please tell us how you concluded you were not required to disclose the existence
of this agreement when it was entered into, including why the entry into the agreement did not
necessitate an Item 1.01 Form 8-K. |
In February 2009 Patriot National Bank entered into a formal written agreement with the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC Agreement). The OCC Agreement was disclosed on an Item
1.01 Form 8-K in February 2009. When the Company entered into a written agreement with the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York (the Reserve Bank Agreement) in June 2010, the Company concluded that
the Reserve Bank Agreement did not impose any additional material obligations or restrictions on
the Company not already included in the OCC Agreement. Because the Reserve Bank Agreement was not
deemed to be material, it was not the subject of an Item 1.01 Form 8-K. The Reserve Bank Agreement
has been described in a subsequent Form 10-K and other appropriate filings.
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3. We note your disclosure on page 11 that you entered into formal written agreements with the
OCC and the Federal Reserve Bank during 2009 and 2010. Please tell us the specific
pending/completed improvements you made to your policies, procedures, and processes and if they
are reasonably likely to materially impact the operating performance, financial condition, cash
flows or liquidity of the company as a result of the application of these policies, procedures,
and processes. Confirm that you will continue to update the status of the agreements in your
current, periodic and annual filings. |
Page 3
In accordance with the formal agreements, The Board of Directors of the Company formed a compliance
committee in February 2009. This committee has met monthly since inception and monitors the
Companys efforts to comply with the articles of the agreements. Efforts to comply with the formal
agreements have resulted in a material reduction in total construction loans outstanding (from
$292.7 million on December 31, 2008 to $50.0 million as of March 31, 2011), a reduction in the
concentration of Commercial Real Estate loans (from $262.6 million on December 31, 2008 to $212.8
million as of March 31, 2011), a reduction in nonaccrual loans (from a quarter-end peak of $137.9
million at September 30, 2009 to $32.5 million at March 31, 2011), and a capital infusion of $50.4
million on October 15, 2010.
Key policies, procedures, and processes have been subject to ongoing review since the establishment
of the formal agreements. Key policies subject to review have included Credit Policy,
Concentrations in Credit Policy, Liquidity Policy, and the Banks Capital Plan. As a part of this
review process, the Company has recruited new directors, a new Chairman, a new President & CEO, and
several additional senior managers.
The changes to policies, procedures, and processes have had material impacts as follows: The
operating performance of the Company has been strengthened with the reduction of operating expense
structures resulting from the previously announced branch office closures and staff reductions
(both of which will reduce expenses materially in the 3rd quarter of 2011), supplier
contract renegotiations, deposit cost reductions, and interest income has been increased with the
investment of excess liquidity; The financial condition of the Company has been strengthened by
materially reducing the amount of non-performing assets and infusion of $50.4 million in capital;
Cash flows and liquidity have benefited from the reduction of non-performing assets. The progress
noted in each area has been the direct result of Board and Management oversight and direction.
The more significant impacts resulting from changes in asset composition, capital structure, and
operating performance have likely been completed and future impacts may be more modest than those
experienced to date. Further, the Company does not anticipate the restrictions included within the
agreements will impair its current business plan.
The Company intends to provide updated status information regarding the formal written agreements
in future filings.
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Item 8. |
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Financial Statements and Supplementary Data |
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note 1. Nature and Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Allowance for Loan Losses, page 12
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4. We note your disclosure on page 13 concerning appraisals and disposition discount
adjustments made to real estate appraisals on collateral dependent impaired loans. Please tell
us and revise future filings to disclose how often you obtain updated appraisals for your
collateral dependent loans. If this policy varies by loan type please disclose that also.
Further, please describe in detail the disposition discount adjustments you make to the
appraised values, including those made as a result of outdated appraisals. Discuss how you
consider the potential for outdated appraisal values in your determination of the allowance for
loan losses. |
Appraisals on properties securing impaired loans and Other Real Estate Owned (OREO) are updated
annually. Additionally, appraisals on construction loans are updated four months in advance of
scheduled maturity dates. We update our impairment analysis monthly based on the most recent
appraisal as well as other factors (such as senior lien positions, e.g. property taxes). Published
information regarding actual median home sales prices in the towns/counties where our collateral is
located, such as the Warren Group Reports for towns in CT (updated monthly) and the Prudential
Douglas Elliman reports for the counties in NY (updated quarterly)..
The majority of the Companys impaired loans have been resolved through courses of action other
than via bank liquidation of real estate collateral through the OREO. These include normal loan
payoffs, the traditional workout process, triggering personal guarantee obligations, and troubled
debt restructurings. However, as loan workout efforts progress to a point where the banks
liquidation of real estate collateral is the likely outcome, the
impairment analysis is updated
to reflect actual recent experience with bank sales of OREO properties.
A disposition discount is built into our impairment analysis and reflected in our allowance once a
property is determined to be a likely OREO (e.g. foreclosure is probable). To determine the
discount we compare the actual sales prices of our OREO properties to the appraised value that was
obtained as of the date when we took title to the property. The difference is the bank-owned
disposition discount.
Note 4. Loans Receivable and Allowance for Loan Losses, page 25
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5. We note that your portfolio segments and classes of financing receivables appear to be the
same for purposes of providing the disclosures required by ASU 2010-20. Please tell us how you
considered paragraphs 310-10-55-16 through 310-10-55-18 and 310-10-55-22 of this guidance when
determining that further disaggregation of your portfolio segments was not necessary. Confirm
to us, if true, that the classes presented are at the level management uses to assess and
monitor the risk and performance of the portfolio. |
We acknowledge that our portfolio segments and classes of financing receivables are the same. The
portfolio segments are determined by the level at which we develop and document our systematic
methodology for determining the allowance for loan losses.
In response to the staffs comment, we thoughtfully reassessed our conclusions and continue to
believe our disclosure is consistent with the principles outlined in ASC 310-10-50. We do not
believe any further disaggregation of loan classes is necessary, based on a reassessment of how we
manage our portfolio and monitor credit risk. Further, we do not believe there is a need to revise
our portfolio segments (e.g., by grouping two or more classes into a single segment), as our
disclosures now reflect the level at which we develop and document our allowance for loan losses.
The classes presented are at the same level management uses to access and monitor the risk.
Management believes that the classes have similar credit and collateral characteristics and each
class is a homogenous group. Going forward should the bank develop material concentrations in new
collateral types, they will be separately itemized because they may have different credit
characteristics.
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6. Please revise future filings to disclose the information required by ASC 310-10-50-
11B.a.2 and ASC 310-10-50-11B.b for each period for which results of operations are
presented. |
The Company will comply with the requirements noted in ASC 310-10-50-11B.a.2 and ASC
310-10-50-11B.b in future filings.
Page 6
Form 10-Q for Fiscal Quarter Ended March 31, 2011
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Item 2. |
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Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
Financial Condition
Allowance for Loan Losses, page 35
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7. We note your disclosure that you recorded a provision for loan losses of $6.0 million and
net charge-offs of $3.4 million in accordance with the transfer of loans to held-for-sale in
connection with the bulk loan sale. Please tell us the following concerning the assets included
in the bulk loan sale at December 31, 2010: |
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A) The portfolio segments and classes the loans integrated into the bulk loan sale
portfolio were included in; |
The loans were comprised of $10.8 million CRE, $19.8 million Construction and $25.2 million
Residential.
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B)The amount of impaired loans included in the bulk loan sale portfolio, the amount for
which there was a related ALL, the amount of the ALL and the amount for which
there was no ALL; |
The bulk sale included 20 impaired loans with a gross carrying value of $55.6 million. Of the
impaired loans, 11 loans with a gross carrying value of $30.2 million had a specific reserve of
$3.4 million within the ALL (and thus a net book value of $26.8 million) and 9 loans with a gross
carrying value and equal net book value of $25.4 million did not have an associated specific
reserve as our impairment analysis concluded a specific reserve was not required.
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C) The recorded investment in nonaccrual financing receivables in the bulk loan sale
portfolio; |
Nonaccrual loans had a gross carrying value of $55.6 million.
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D) The recorded investment in 90 days + and still accruing in the bulk loan sale
portfolio; |
None of the loans in the bulk sale were 90 days + and still accruing.
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E) An age analysis of past due financing receivables included in the bulk loan sale
portfolio; and |
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Current |
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30-60 Days |
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90+ Days |
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Total |
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Accruing Loans |
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$ |
0 |
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$ |
239,572 |
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$ |
0 |
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$ |
239,572 |
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Nonaccruing |
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$ |
20,627,026 |
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$ |
0 |
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$ |
35,019,961 |
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$ |
55,646,987 |
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Total: |
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$ |
20,627,026 |
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$ |
239,572 |
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$ |
35,019,961 |
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$ |
55,886,558 |
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F) A timeline from December 31, 2010 to the time of sale that resulted in your decision
to record charge-offs and the provision for loan losses specifically attributable to the
bulk loan sale portfolio. Please include any triggering events or any other facts and
circumstances during that timeline that influenced your decision. Please be specific
and detailed in your timeline. |
December 30, 2010 The Bank submitted a 3 year business plan with the Office of The Comptroller
of The Currency. The plan did not include an expectation of a bulk sale of assets.
January 7, 2011 The Company conducted the first exploratory discussion with the eventual asset
purchaser (ES Ventures). Specific pricing and terms were not discussed at this meeting.
January 11, 2011 The Company reviewed a proposal from Deutsche Bank (unrelated to the ES
Ventures process) that would have provided performance guarantees regarding the nonaccrual loan
portfolio while the bank retained the portfolio and resolved the credits over a 24 to 36 month
horizon.
January 14, 2011 The Company declined to enter into a letter of intent with ES Ventures but
agrees to allow the ES Ventures the opportunity to conduct due diligence.
January 18, 2011 ES Ventures begins due diligence. No commitments exist from either the Company
or ES Ventures.
January 24, 2011 The Board is updated that ES Ventures is conducting due diligence but that
other plans for asset resolution are being pursued as well (including workout, troubled debt
restructuring, short sales, etc.).
February 17, 2011 The Board is provided information regarding a potential asset sale but is also
cautioned that completion of a transaction remains highly uncertain.
February 22, 2011 The Board grants management the authority to enter into a contract to sell
assets.
Mr. Christian Windsor
July 1, 2011
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February 25, 2011 A Purchase and Sale agreement was executed.
March 3, 2011 Form 8-K filed to disclose the entry into a material definitive agreement
March 8, 2011 Management reviews classification of the assets in the bulk sale as of December
31, 2010 to determine the appropriate classification for financial reporting under U.S. GAAP.
March 24, 2011 The asset sale closed.
March 29, 2011 Form 8-K filed disclosing the settlement of the asset sale.
The Company hereby confirms that:
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The Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosures in its
filings; |
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Staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to staff comments do not foreclose
the Commission from taking any action with respect to our filings; and |
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The Company may not assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by
the Commission or any person under the federal securities laws of the United States. |
I can be reached at (203) 251-8265 if you would like to discuss our responses further.
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Sincerely,
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/s/ Christopher D. Maher |
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Christopher D. Maher |
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President & CEO
Patriot National Bancorp |
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cc:
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Richard Krantz, Esq.; Robinson & Cole LLP |