Waukesha-based CIB Marine Bancshares Inc., the holding company for Milwaukee’s Marine Bank, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to voluntarily deregister its common shares.
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which became law April 5, increased the record shareholder requirement to 2,000 for bank holding companies who register with the SEC. CIB Marine has fewer than 1,200 shareholders, so it qualifies for deregistration.
CIB Marine’s board cited the high costs of filing periodic reports with the SEC and added stress of complying with reporting requirements as reasons to deregister the stock.
“The action taken by the Board today furthers our continuing efforts to reduce costs, improve profitability and increase long term shareholder value,” said Charles J. Ponicki, President & CEO of CIB Marine. “We anticipate significant annual cost savings, which will directly benefit CIB Marine’s earnings and regulatory capital.”
CIB Marine Bancshares filed for a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2009 and completed a reorganization in January 2010.
The holding company reported a net loss of $5.4 million for 2011, up from a $17.3 million loss in 2010. CIB Marine Bancshares operates 13 CIBM Bank offices in Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois.
The company plans to continue filing quarterly financial reports, be audited annually and issue shareholder letters.
“Our shareholders will continue to have access to company performance information on our website, in quarterly letters to our shareholders, and via our publicly available bank regulatory reports,” said John Hickey, chairman of the board of directors. “In addition, deregistering our shares will free senior management to dedicate more time and resources to focus on developing customer relationships and continued improvement to bank performance.”
