Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Enters Into Formal Written Agreements With the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and Office o
March 01 2005 - 10:10AM
PR Newswire (US)
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Enters Into Formal Written
Agreements With the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 1
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Huntington Bancshares Incorporated
(NASDAQ:HBAN) ( http://www.huntington.com/ ) announced it has
entered into formal written agreements with its banking regulators,
the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency. These formal written agreements
provide for a comprehensive action plan designed to enhance
Huntington's corporate governance, internal audit, risk management,
accounting policies and procedures, and financial and regulatory
reporting. They call for independent third-party reviews, as well
as the submission of written plans and progress reports by
management. The formal written agreements remain in effect until
terminated by the banking regulators. "Entering into these formal
written agreements is consistent with our expectations announced
last November and in line with steps that we have been taking to
ensure that our corporate governance and controls are best in
class," said Hoaglin. "As previously indicated, we have been
working extensively with our banking regulators over the past
several months. While there is work yet to be done, we have devoted
significant resources in order to address the issues raised. We are
confident that we are on the right path to address fully and
comprehensively all of their concerns in a timely manner. We also
believe that the changes we have made, and are in the process of
making, are positive for our organization and will position us to
be a stronger company in the future." "No fines or monetary
penalties will be assessed against the company as a result of the
bank regulatory actions, and we reaffirm the earnings guidance
provided on January 21, 2005," he concluded. Securities and
Exchange Commission Formal Investigation As previously announced,
Huntington continues to have ongoing discussions with the staff of
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding resolution
of its previously announced formal investigation into certain
financial accounting matters relating to fiscal years 2002 and
earlier and certain related disclosure matters. It is anticipated
that a settlement of this matter, which is subject to approval by
the SEC, will involve the entry of an order by the SEC requiring
Huntington to comply with various provisions of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933, along with the
imposition of a civil money penalty. At year end, the company had
reserves related to the expectation of the imposition of a civil
money penalty, which the company viewed as sufficient given
negotiations with the SEC. However, no assurances can be made that
any assessed penalty may not exceed this amount. Unizan Financial
Acquisition As announced November 12, 2004, Huntington and Unizan
Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:UNIZ) have entered into an amendment to
their January 26, 2004 merger agreement extending the term of the
agreement for one year from January 27, 2005 to January 27, 2006,
and Huntington has withdrawn its application with the Federal
Reserve to acquire Unizan. Huntington intends to resubmit the
application for regulatory approval of the merger once the
regulatory concerns have been resolved. No assurances, however, can
be provided as to the ultimate timing or outcome of these matters.
Additional Information The bank regulatory formal written
agreements will be filed with the SEC as exhibits to Huntington's
Current Report on Form 8-K. The Form 8-K can be accessed at
http://www.sec.gov/ or on the investor relations page of
Huntington's web site at http://www.huntington.com/ . A copy of the
Federal Reserve agreement will be available at
http://www.federalreserve.gov/ , and a copy of the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency agreement will be available at
http://www.occ.treas.gov/ . Forward-looking Statement This press
release contains certain forward-looking statements, including
certain plans, expectations, goals, and projections, which are
subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. A number
of factors, including but not limited to those set forth under the
heading "Business Risks" included in Item 1 of Huntington's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, and other
factors described from time to time in Huntington's other filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual
conditions, events, or results to differ significantly from those
described in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking
statements included in this news release are based on information
available at the time of the release. Huntington assumes no
obligation to update any forward- looking statement. About
Huntington Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $33 billion
regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.
Through its affiliated companies, Huntington has more than 139
years of serving the financial needs of its customers. Huntington
provides innovative retail and commercial financial products and
services through more than 300 regional banking offices in Indiana,
Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Huntington also offers
retail and commercial financial services online at huntington.com;
through its technologically advanced, 24-hour telephone bank; and
through its network of approximately 700 ATMs. Selected financial
service activities are also conducted in other states including:
Dealer Sales offices in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania,
and Arizona; Private Financial Group offices in Florida; and
Mortgage Banking offices in Florida, Maryland, and New Jersey.
International banking services are made available through the
headquarters office in Columbus and an office located in the Cayman
Islands and an office located in Hong Kong. DATASOURCE: Huntington
Bancshares Incorporated CONTACT: Analysts, Jay Gould,
+1-614-480-4060, or Susan Stuart, +1-614-480-3878, or Media, Jeri
Grier-Ball, +1-614-480-4513, all of Huntington Bancshares
Incorporated Web site: http://www.huntington.com/
Copyright
Unizan Financial (NASDAQ:UNIZ)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Unizan Financial (NASDAQ:UNIZ)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024