W Holding Company Inc

Hallo, da es zu diesem Wert hier keinen Thread gibt, möchte ich den hier eröffnen.

The Company

W Holding Company, Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE : "WHI") is a bank holding company offering a full range of financial services. The business of the Company is conducted through its wholly-owned commercial bank subsidiary, Westernbank Puerto Rico (“Westernbank” or the “Bank”). The Company was organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in February 1999 to become the bank holding company of Westernbank. Westernbank was founded as a savings institution in 1958 operating in the western and southwestern regions of Puerto Rico, focusing on retail banking and emphasizing long-term fixed-rate residential mortgage loans on one-to-four family residential properties. In 1994, Westernbank changed its charter to become a full-service commercial bank. Westernbank offers a full range of business and consumer financial services, including banking, trust and brokerage services.

In July 2000, the Company became a financial holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act (“BHC Act”). As a financial holding company, the Company was permitted to engage in financial related activities, including insurance and securities activities, provided that the Company and its banking subsidiary met certain regulatory standards. On May 20, 2008, the Company withdrew its financial holding company status under the BHC Act. As a result, effective on such date the Company’s activities are limited to those deemed closely related to banking by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”). The change did not have impact in the Company’s operations and business practices.

Westernbank operates through a network of 48 bank branches (including 11 Expresso of Westernbank branches) located throughout Puerto Rico, including 25 in the Western and Southwestern regions, 14 in the San Juan metropolitan area, 7 in the Northeastern region, and 2 in the Eastern region, and a website on the Internet. On October 3, 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was enacted into law, pursuant to which, among other things, the amount of deposit insurance provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) was temporarily increased from $100,000 to $250,000 per depositor until December 31, 2009. On May 20, 2009, President Barack Obama signed legislation that extended this temporary increase to $250,000 per depositor through December 31, 2013. On January 1, 2014, the standard insurance amount will return to $100,000 per depositor for all account categories, except IRAs and other certain retirement accounts, which will remain at $250,000 per depositor. Westernbank’s deposits, including Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”), are insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”), which is administered by the FDIC, up to $250,000 per depositor.

Westernbank’s traditional banking operations include retail operations, such as its branches, including the branches of the Expresso division, together with consumer loans, mortgage loans, commercial loans, investments (treasury) and deposit products. Besides the traditional banking operations, at December 31, 2008 Westernbank operated four other divisions:

• Westernbank International Division, which is an International Banking Entity (“IBE”) under the Puerto Rico Act No. 52 of August 11, 1989, as amended, known as the International Banking Center Regulatory Act, which offers commercial banking and related services, and treasury and investment activities outside of Puerto Rico;

• Westernbank Trust Division, which offers a full array of trust services;

• Expresso of Westernbank, a division which specializes in small, unsecured consumer loans up to $15,000 and real estate collateralized consumer loans up to $150,000; and

• Westernbank International Trade Services, established during the first quarter of 2006, a division which specializes in international trade products and services.

Westernbank owns 100% of the voting shares of:

• Westernbank World Plaza, Inc. (“WWPI”), which owns and operates Westernbank World Plaza; a 23-story office building, including its related parking facility, located in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, the main Puerto Rican business district.

• SRG Net, Inc., a Puerto Rico corporation that operates an electronic funds transfer network.

• Westernbank Insurance Corp. (“WIC”) a general insurance agent placing property, casualty, life and disability insurance, primarily to mortgage customers of the Company.

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