BANKING: First Niagara applies to be a bank holding company

Local News

November 27, 2009

Staff Reports The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Fri Nov 27, 2009, 09:46 PM EST

The First Niagara Financial Group is in the process of applying to the Federal Reserve Board to become a bank holding company.

First Niagara said Friday that becoming a bank holding company would enhance the company’s ability to continue expanding through acquisitions. Currently classified as a thrift holding company, First Niagara said it would have more flexibility to purchase and expand as a bank holding company.

The financial group is the parent company of First Niagara Bank and is currently in the process of purchasing Harleysville National Bank of Philadelphia. Still in need of approval from regulatory and Harleysville shareholders for the purchase, First Niagara said it withdrew its application for approval from the Office of Thrift Supervision. Once the conversion to a bank holding company is complete, First Niagara will need to apply for purchase approval with the Federal Reserve Board, which would be First Niagara’s new regulator.

The company said the Harleysville purchase is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.

Converting to a bank holding company will have no impact on employees or customers, First Niagara said.

Text Only

Local News

Municipalities take wait-and-see approach on SPCA funding
The City and Town of Lockport are each withholding payments to the Niagara SPCA, while other Eastern Niagara County towns are taking a wait-and-see approach.

February 7, 2012 1 Photo 2 Stories
Rocky II
Friends of Deputy Craig Beiter of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department plan a benefit on Feb. 26 to raise money to buy and train a new dog for the K-9 Unit.
Beiter’s German shepherd, Deputy Rocky, was killed while on duty in December, and the sheriff’s department is close to getting a replacement.

February 6, 2012 1 Photo 2 Stories
Basket Factory closes
The Basket Factory has gone out of business.
The owners, Julie Thompson Riegle and Dawn Thompson, made the difficult decision last Monday and put the sign on the door Tuesday.

February 6, 2012
No snow is no problem
Unseasonably warm weather didn’t keep Roy-Hart Winterfest from being a fun day for the families who came out to Roy-Hart Elementary School on Saturday.
More than 500 people attended the third annual festivities, which Gasport Lions Club officials said was a big increase from last year. The halls of Roy-Hart Elementary were filled with vendors, programs and movement as excited children rushed from one activity to another.

February 6, 2012
Shovel-ready park has perks
At first glance, the big, orange road sign announcing vacant property on Lockport Road as a “shovel ready certified” building site seems a bit gratuitous.
To companies looking for new places to launch a business, it’s not. The sign in their eyes is a welcome mat, for in three words a community pronounced itself ready, willing and able to make a deal quickly.

February 3, 2012 1 Photo
Roy-Hart to play the big stage
A group of local students will be performing this month at Kleinhans Music Hall just before a BPO concert.
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra will welcome the Royalton-Hartland High School Mixed Chorus as part of the BPO’s Community Spotlight program on Feb. 19 at Kleinhans in Buffalo. The chorus will perform under the direction of Carolyn Unitas Roos and accompanied by Janice McKinney.

February 3, 2012
Former NFTA cop sentenced
A former Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority police officer will spend six years on probation for sending a sexually explicit photo to a teenage girl, a girl he later had a sexual encounter with.
In addition, John W. Ingham will spend 25 weekends in the service of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office Work Program. Ingham was sentenced Thursday by State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch, Sr. Ingham will also register as a sex offender.

February 3, 2012
Speakers address SPCA contract
Animal rescue volunteers want the City of Lockport to hit the SPCA of Niagara where it hurts — in the pocketbook — and help force reform of the troubled animal welfare organization.
Volunteers from multiple small, private rescue groups, and the SPCA itself, descended on the Common Council Wednesday to talk about the city’s ongoing involvement with SPCA.

February 2, 2012 4 Photos
Liberty Tire cited for 'multiple' violations
The City of Lockport will require Liberty Tire Recycling to obtain an operating permit in order to avoid being declared a hazard.

February 2, 2012
Instant millionaire
Paul Schneider had just gotten off the phone with his girlfriend when he called her back with some breaking news.
“She was teasing me and said, ‘so you hung up the phone with me to scratch your scratch offs?’” Schneider said. “And I said, ‘It’s a good thing I did because I won a million dollars.’”

February 1, 2012 1 Photo
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

BANKING: First Niagara applies to be a bank holding company

Site Map

Contact Us