ELMIRA — Elmira Savings Bank (NASDAQ: ESBK) says it has repaid three-fourths, or $10.5 million, of the $14 million it received from the U.S. Treasury Department through the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF).
Established by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, the SBLF provides capital to community banks, like Elmira Savings, and community-development loan funds to encourage small-business lending. In exchange, the banks issue the Treasury Department preferred shares of their stock.
The U.S. Treasury says it has invested more than $4 billion in 332 institutions through the SBLF program, including about $3.9 billion in community banks.
Elmira Savings Bank says it still owes the Treasury Department $3.5 million under this program, which the department holds in preferred stock in the bank.
“We are pleased to have accumulated retained earnings over the last several years and enhanced our capital position to a point where we can redeem these outstanding shares and reduce our dividend payments to preferred shareholders and increase our earnings per common share,” Michael P. Hosey, president and CEO of Elmira Savings, said in a news release.
Elmira Savings Bank, with $509 million in total assets, is a state-chartered bank with six offices in Chemung County, three offices and a loan center in Tompkins County, two offices in Steuben County, one office in Cayuga County, one office in Schuyler County, and a loan center in Cortland County.
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