“When they (the OCC) gave us the news [that the agreement was lifted] we were a little taken back because it was a relatively short period of time. We’re happy,” said Riverview President and COO Ron Wysaske.
The OCC’s decision, Wysaske explained, proves that the bank is “doing what they asked us to do – we’re making good credit decisions and we’ve got good credit policies and procedures.” Additionally, Kim Capeloto, Riverview’s executive vice president, said that the decision is a vote of confidence and trust in the bank’s ability to operate on the right path.
“They now say, ‘We trust that you guys are on the right path. You clearly understand how to run your company well and as a result we don’t have to run an adult daycare. You are free to run your business and if you need our help, we’re here for you. We’ll still visit once in a while, but we trust you.’ Thats a huge badge of courage in our industry nowadays,” he said.
The lifting of the formal agreement is also a representation of the growing local economy, Wysaske explained.
“From the time that agreement was put in place we’ve had six or seven quarters of positive earnings,” he said. “That is evidence that the local market is positive. It’s getting better and we’re seeing lots of signs of that. This a reflection of the local economy.”
Free from the restrictions of the formal agreement, Wysaske said Riverview can better focus on the task at hand: “getting out in our communities and supporting good, solid community growth.”
“Having the extra set of eyes looking over your shoulder at everything is costly,” he said. “We appreciate their (the OCC’s) point of view and their experience, but if we’re not worrying so much about them looking over our shoulder we can do our job.”
Looking ahead, Wysaske said that one of the things on Riverview’s agenda is growth potential, so long as it doesn’t come at the expense of quality.
“There’s been a void created as a result of the economy, and what it has done to and for banks,” he said. “We’re happy to fill a void like that and there’s a number of ways of doing it: You grow organically [and] you look for opportunities. There may be an opportunity to pick up a couple of branches from a bank thats shedding branches, moving or becoming part of a larger banking monster. We keep our eyes open for those opportunities.”
Capeloto said that Riverview will continue to look for good loans, and he thanked the company’s clients for their support and dedication during this process with the OCC.
“We did not have clients leaving us because they felt that we couldn’t pull through on this,” he said. “We continued to have growth during all of the last five years with regard to new clients and new opportunities, and thats a huge issue for us.”
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