Financial Institutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:FISI), the parent company of Five
Star Bank, announced today that it has signed an Assurance of
Discontinuance with the New York State Attorney General’s office related
to an investigation into lending practices for minority residents within
the City of Rochester. The agreement supports Five Star Bank’s long-term
growth strategy for the Rochester region, which it has been pursuing for
the past several years.
“As the Attorney General’s office acknowledged, we cooperated fully with
all of his office’s inquiries during this process, and we have at all
times been committed to compliance with federal and state fair lending
laws,” said Richard J. Harrison, executive vice president and chief
operating officer, Financial Institutions, Inc.
“It’s important to recognize that Five Star Bank’s 2011 examinations by
the New York Department of Financial Services and the Federal Reserve
Bank under the federal Community Reinvestment Act rated it as
‘outstanding’,” Harrison continued. “We are pleased to come to a
mutually-beneficial agreement with the Attorney General. We also look
forward to continuing to build on our commitment to the Rochester
community by opening new bank branches in the City and working with new
customers to help them with their borrowing and banking needs.”
Five Star announced in November 2014 that it will open a new Rochester
branch later this year as part of the CityGate development. In addition,
it has committed to opening an additional full-service branch in the
City of Rochester in the next two years, with more details to come.
As part of the agreement, Financial Institutions will pay the State
$150,000 to cover its costs. An additional $750,000 in dedicated funds
spread over three-years will be earmarked for ongoing business efforts
consistent with Five Star’s growth initiatives in the Rochester market,
and throughout Monroe County, including efforts focused on marketing to
minority communities, as well as lending discounts and/or subsidies.
About Financial Institutions, Inc.
Financial Institutions, Inc. provides diversified financial services
through its subsidiaries, Five Star Bank and Scott Danahy Naylon. Five
Star Bank provides a wide range of consumer and commercial banking
services to individuals, municipalities and businesses through a network
of over 50 offices throughout Western and Central New York State. Scott
Danahy Naylon provides a broad range of insurance services to personal
and business clients across 44 states. Financial Institutions, Inc. and
its subsidiaries employ over 625 individuals. The Company’s stock is
listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol FISI and is a
member of the NASDAQ OMX ABA Community Bank Index. Additional
information is available at the Company’s website: www.fiiwarsaw.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release may contain forward-looking statements as defined
by federal securities laws. These statements may address issues that
involve significant risks, uncertainties, estimates and assumptions made
by management. Actual results could differ materially from current
beliefs or projections. There are a number of important factors that
could affect the Company’s forward-looking statements which include its
ability to implement its strategic plan, its ability to redeploy
investment assets into loan assets, whether it experiences greater
credit losses than expected, the impact of the current management
transition, the attitudes and preferences of its customers, its ability
to successfully integrate acquired bank branches and profitably operate
newly opened bank branches, the competitive environment, fluctuations in
the fair value of securities in its investment portfolio, changes in the
regulatory environment and general economic and credit market conditions
nationally and regionally. For more information about these factors and
other factors that could affect the Company’s forward-looking
statements, please see the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and its
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q on file with the SEC. All of these
factors should be carefully reviewed, and readers should not place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law,
the Company undertakes no obligation to revise these statements
following the date of this press release.
Copyright Business Wire 2015