Item 1. The Business
Organization and Operation
Community Bancorp. (the "Company") was organized under the laws of the State of Vermont in 1982 and became a registered bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, in October 1983 when it acquired all of the voting shares of Community National Bank (the "Bank"). The Bank is the only subsidiary of the Company and principally all of the Company's business operations are presently conducted through it. Therefore, the following narrative and the other information contained in this report is based primarily on the Bank's operations.
Community National Bank was organized in 1851 as the Peoples Bank, and was subsequently reorganized as the National Bank of Derby Line in 1865. In 1975, after 110 continuous years of operation as the National Bank of Derby Line, the Bank acquired the Island Pond National Bank and changed its name to "Community National Bank."
Community National Bank provides a complete range of retail banking services to the residents and businesses in northeastern and central Vermont. These services include checking, savings and time deposit accounts, mortgage, consumer, municipal and commercial loans, safe deposit and night deposit services, wire transfer services, automatic teller machine (ATM) facilities, credit card services, 24 hour telephone banking, and internet banking. Additionally, the Bank maintains cash machines in eight different businesses located in the counties of Orleans, Washington and Caledonia.
Prior to April 1, 2002, the Bank operated a trust department through which it offered a full line of personal fiduciary services. On that date, the Bank transferred its trust operations to a newly formed Vermont-chartered nondepository trust and investment management affiliate, Community Financial Services Group, LLC, based in Newport, Vermont ("CFSG"). The Bank's ownership interest in CFSG is held indirectly, through Community Financial Services Partners, LLC, a Vermont limited liability company ("CFSP"), which owns 100% of the limited liability company equity interests of CFSG. Immediately following transfer of its trust operations to CFSG, the Bank sold a two-thirds interest in CFSP, equally to the National Bank of Middlebury, headquartered in Middlebury, Vermont and Guaranty Bancorp Inc., the bank holding company parent of Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank, headquartered in Woodsville, New Hampshire.
Competition
The Bank has five offices located in Orleans County, one office in Essex County, one office in Caledonia County, and two offices in Washington County. Its primary service area is in the town of Derby and city of Newport, Vermont in Orleans County, with approximately 50% of its total deposits as of December 31, 2004 derived from that area.
The Bank competes in all aspects of its business with other banks and credit unions in northern and central Vermont, including two of the largest banks in the state, which maintain branch offices throughout the Bank's service area. Historically, competition in Orleans and Essex Counties has come primarily from two of the largest banks in the state, the Chittenden Bank based in Burlington, Vermont and Banknorth, N.A. based in Portland, Maine. The Chittenden Bank maintains a branch office in Newport, and Banknorth, N.A. maintains offices in Barton, Orleans, and St. Johnsbury. The Bank also competes in Orleans County with two local banks, Lyndonville Savings Bank and Trust Company, based in Lyndonville and Passumpsic Savings Bank, based in St. Johnsbury, and with three local credit unions, Orlex Credit Union and Border Lodge Credit Union, both based in Newport, and Ethan Allen Credit Union, based in Orleans. The Ethan Allen Credit Union recently announced that it has agreed to merge with North Country Federal Credit Union, based in South Burlington. The Bank's primary competitors in Caledonia County are Passumpsic Savings Bank and Union Bank based in Morrisville, Banknorth, N.A., Lyndonville Savings Bank and Trust Company, Northern Lights Federal Credit Union, based in St. Johnsbury, Vermont State Employee Credit Union, based in Montpelier, Merchants Bank, based in Burlington and North Country Federal Credit Union. In Washington County, the Bank competes with Merchants Bank, Chittenden Bank and Banknorth, N.A, as well as Northfield Savings Bank based in Northfield, Key Bank based in Ohio, Citizens Bank Vermont, based in Rhode Island, Vermont State Employees Credit Union, North Country Federal Credit Union, and Granite Hills Credit Union, based in Barre.
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With recent changes in the regulatory framework of the banking industry, the competition for commercial bank products such as deposits and loans has broadened to include not only traditional rivals such as the mutual savings banks, stock savings banks, and credit unions, but also many non-traditional rivals such as insurance companies, brokerage firms, mutual funds and consumer and commercial finance and leasing companies. In addition, many national financial service firms operate in the Company's market areas through mass marketing solicitations by mail, radio, television and email. Three of the Bank's credit union competitors, including the state's largest, Vermont State Employees Credit Union, have converted in recent years from an employment based common bond to a community common bond, thereby significantly increasing their fields of membership in the Bank's market areas. Similarly, another of the Bank's credit union competitors, which currently has an employment based common bond, is being merged into a much larger credit union which as a community common bond. At the same time, regulatory changes in the credit union industry have steadily increased the financial services and products that credit unions are authorized to offer, resulting in increased competition for the Bank from this tax exempt sector of the financial services industry.
Employees
As of December 31, 2004, the Company did not have any employees at the holding company level. However, as of such date, the Bank employed 110 full-time employees and 20 part-time employees. Management of the Bank considers its employee relations to be good.
Regulation and Supervision
Holding Company Regulation. As a registered bank holding company, the Company is subject to on-going regulation, supervision and examination by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the "Act"). A bank holding company for example, must generally obtain the prior approval of the Federal Reserve Board before it acquires all or substantially all of the assets of any bank, or acquires ownership or control of more than 5% of the voting shares of a bank. Federal Reserve Board approval is also generally required before a bank holding company may acquire more than 5% of any outstanding class of voting securities of a company other than a bank or a more than 5% interest in its property.
The Act generally limits the activity in which the Company and its subsidiaries may engage to certain specified activities, including those activities which the Federal Reserve Board may find, by order or regulation, to be so closely related to banking or managing or controlling banks as to be a proper incident thereto. Some of the activities that the Federal Reserve Board has determined to be closely related to banking are: (1) making, and servicing loans that could be made by mortgage, finance, credit card or factoring companies; (2) performing the functions of a trust company; (3) certain leasing of real or personal property; (4) providing certain financial, banking or economic data processing services; (5) except as otherwise prohibited by law, acting as an insurance agent or broker with respect to insurance that is directly related to the extension of credit or the provision of other financial services or, under certain circumstances, with respect to insurance that is sold in certain small communities in which the bank holding company system maintains banking offices; (6) acting as an underwriter for credit life insurance and credit health and accident insurance directly related to extensions of credit by the holding company system; (7) providing certain kinds of management consulting advice to unaffiliated banks and non-bank depository institutions; (8) performing real estate appraisals; (9) issuing and selling money order and similar instruments and travelers checks and selling U.S. Savings Bonds; (10) providing certain securities brokerage and related services for the account of bank customers; (11) underwriting and dealing in certain government obligations and other obligations such as bankers' acceptances and certificates of deposit; (12) providing consumer financial counseling; (13) providing tax planning and preparation services; (14) providing check guarantee services to merchants; (15) operating a collection agency; and (16) operating a credit bureau.
Except for trust and investment management operations conducted by its affiliate, CFSG, the Company does not presently engage, directly or indirectly, in any non-banking activities.
A bank holding company must also obtain prior Federal Reserve approval in order to purchase or redeem its own stock if the gross consideration to be paid, when added to the net consideration paid by the company for all purchases or redemptions by the company of its equity securities within the preceding 12 months, will equal 10% or more of the company's consolidated net worth.
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The Company is required to file with the Federal Reserve Board an annual report and such additional information as the Board may require pursuant to the Act. The Board may also make examinations of the Company and any direct or indirect subsidiary of the Company.
Community Bancorp. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Community National Bank, as well as its non-subsidiary affiliates, CFSP and CFSG, are all considered "affiliates" of each other for the purposes of Section 18(j) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as amended, and Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act, as amended. Accordingly, the Bank is subject to certain limitations with respect to loans and other extensions of credit to or investments in its affiliates in some circumstances. In addition, the Company is prohibited from engaging in certain tie-in arrangements in connection with any extension of credit or lease or sale of any property or the furnishing of services.
Financial Modernization. On March 11, 2000 the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley financial modernization act ("Gramm-Leach-Bliley") became effective. Under Gramm-Leach-Bliley, eligible bank holding companies may elect to become financial holding companies and thereby affiliate with securities firms and insurance companies and engage in a broader range of activities than is otherwise permissible for bank holding companies. A bank holding company is eligible to elect to become a "financial holding company" and to engage in activities that are "financial in nature" if each of its subsidiary banks is well capitalized for regulatory capital purposes, is well managed and has at least a satisfactory rating under the Community Reinvestment Act ("CRA"). Activities which are deemed "financial in nature" under Gramm-Leach-Bliley would include activities generally permitted to bank holding companies as described above, and in addition securities underwriting, dealing and market making; sponsoring mutual funds and investment companies; insurance underwriting and agency; and merchant banking. Gramm-Leach-Bliley also contains similar provisions authorizing eligible national banks to engage indirectly through a "financial subsidiary" and, subject to limitations on investment, in activities that are financial in nature, other than insurance underwriting, insurance company portfolio investment, real estate development and real estate investment. In order to be considered eligible for these expanded activities, the bank must be well capitalized, well managed and have at least a satisfactory CRA rating.
As of the date of filing this report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Company had not elected to become a financial holding company, nor had the Bank created any financial subsidiaries.
Continued implementation of Gramm-Leach-Bliley will likely result in structural changes to the financial services industry, the full effect of which cannot be predicted with any certainty.
USA Patriot Act. In response to the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, Congress enacted the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (the "USA Patriot Act"). The USA Patriot Act is intended to strengthen the ability of U.S. law enforcement and the intelligence community to work cooperatively to combat terrorism on a variety of fronts. The potential impact of the USA Patriot Act on financial institutions is significant and wide ranging. The Act contains sweeping anti-money laundering and financial transparency laws and imposes various regulations, including standards for verifying client identification at account opening, and rules to promote cooperation among financial institutions, regulators and law enforcement entities in identifying parties that may be involved in terrorism or money laundering. The Act amends the Bank Secrecy Act and adopts certain additional measures that increase the obligation of financial institutions to identify their customers, watch for and report upon suspicious transactions, respond to requests for information by federal banking regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies, share information with other financial institutions, and guard against dealings with "shell banks." The Secretary of the Treasury and banking regulators have adopted several regulations to implement these provisions. The Act also amended the federal Bank Holding Company Act and the Bank Merger Act to require the federal banking regulatory authorities to consider the effectiveness of a bank holding company or a financial institution's anti-money laundering activities when reviewing an application to expand operations. As required by law, Community National Bank has in place a Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering compliance program, as well as a customer identification program.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act. On July 30, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the "Act"). The stated goals of the Act are to increase corporate responsibility, to provide for enhanced penalties for accounting and auditing improprieties at publicly traded companies and to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures pursuant to the securities laws. The Act is the most far-reaching U.S. securities legislation enacted in decades, and generally applies to companies that file or are required to file periodic reports with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"). The SEC has engaged in extensive rulemaking to implement the Act's provisions.
Among other things, the Act includes very specific additional disclosure requirements and new corporate governance rules, requires the SEC and securities exchanges to adopt extensive additional disclosure, corporate governance and other related rules and mandates further studies of certain issues by the SEC. The Act represents significant federal involvement in matters traditionally left to state regulatory systems, such as the regulation of the accounting profession, and to state corporate law, such as the relationship between a board of directors and management and between a board of directors and its committees.
The Act includes provisions addressing, among other matters, the duties, functions and qualifications of audit committees for all public companies; certification of financial statements by the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer; the forfeiture of bonuses or other incentive-based compensation and profits from the sale of an issuer's securities by directors and senior officers in the twelve month period following initial publication of any financial statements that later require restatement; disclosure of off-balance sheet transactions; a prohibition on personal loans to directors and officers, except (in the case of banking companies) loans in the normal course of business; expedited filing requirements for reports of beneficial ownership of company stock by insiders; disclosure of a code of ethics for senior officers, and of any change or waiver of such code; the formation of a public accounting oversight board; auditor independence; disclosure of fees paid to the company's auditors for non-audit services and limitations on the provision of such services; attestation requirements for company management and external auditors, relating to internal controls and procedures; and various increased criminal penalties for violations of federal securities laws.
Under the Sarbanes-Oxley amendments to the Exchange Act, the Company's chief executive officer and chief financial officer are each required to certify that the Company's quarterly and annual reports do not contain any untrue statement of a material fact. These officers must also certify that they are responsible for establishing, maintaining and regularly evaluating the effectiveness of the Company's internal controls; they have made certain disclosures to the Company's auditors and the audit committee of the Board of Directors about the Company's internal controls; and they have included information in the Company's quarterly and annual reports about their evaluation and whether there have been significant changes in the Company's internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls subsequent to the evaluation.
In response to Sarbanes-Oxley, the Board of Directors of the Company approved a series of actions to strengthen and improve its already strong corporate governance practices. Included in those actions was the adoption of a new Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers and the Principal Executive Officer, adoption of a new Insider Trading Policy, adoption of amendments to the Audit Committee Charter, appointment of a Compensation Committee and a Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee and adoption of charters for those new committees. More information on the Company's corporate governance practices is available on the Company's website at www.communitybancorpvt.com
Interstate Banking and Branching. The Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 permits a bank holding company to acquire banks in states other than its home state, without regard to the permissibility of such acquisitions under state law, but subject to any state requirement that the bank has been organized and operating for a minimum period of time, not to exceed five years, and the requirement that the bank holding company, prior to or following the proposed acquisition, controls no more than 10% of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in the United States and less than 30% of such deposits in that state (or such lesser or greater amount set by state law).
The Interstate Banking and Branching Act also authorizes banks to merge across state lines, subject to certain restrictions a state may choose to impose, thereby creating interstate branches, and to open new branches in a state in which it does not already have banking operations if the state enacts a law permitting such de novo branching. Vermont and states contiguous to it, all permit interstate branching without substantial restrictions. Interstate branching generally heightens the competitive environment for financial services and, although it is difficult to predict with any certainty, it is likely that the trend toward increasing competition will continue in the future.
Capital and Operational Requirements. The Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the "OCC") and other banking regulators have issued substantially similar risk-based and leverage capital guidelines applicable to U.S. banking organizations. In addition, those regulatory agencies may from time to time require that a banking organization maintain capital above the minimum levels, whether because of its financial condition or actual or anticipated growth. The Federal Reserve Board risk-based guidelines define a three-tier capital framework. "Tier 1 capital" generally consists of common and qualifying preferred shareholders' equity, less certain intangibles and other adjustments. "Tier 2 capital" and "Tier 3 capital" generally consist of subordinated and other qualifying debt, preferred stock that does not qualify as Tier 1 capital and the allowance for credit losses up to 1.25% of risk-weighted assets.
The sum of Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 capital, less investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries, represents qualifying "total capital," at least 50% of which must consist of Tier 1 capital. Risk-based capital ratios are calculated by dividing Tier 1 capital and total capital by risk-weighted assets. Assets and off-balance sheet exposures are assigned to one of four categories of risk weights, based primarily on relative credit risk. The minimum Tier 1 capital ratio is 4% and the minimum total capital ratio is 8%. The "leverage ratio" requirement is determined by dividing Tier 1 capital by adjusted average total assets. Although the stated minimum ratio is 3%, most banking organizations are required to maintain ratios of at least 100 to 200 basis points above 3%.
Prompt Corrective Action. The Federal Deposit Insurance Company Improvement Act of 1991 ("FDICIA"), among other things, identifies five capital categories for insured depository institutions (well capitalized, adequately capitalized, undercapitalized, significantly undercapitalized and critically undercapitalized) and requires the respective U.S. federal regulatory agencies to implement systems for "prompt corrective action" for insured depository institutions that do not meet minimum capital requirements within such categories. FDICIA imposes progressively more restrictive constraints on operations, management and capital distributions, depending on the category in which an institution is classified. Failure to meet the capital guidelines could also subject a banking institution to capital raising requirements. An "undercapitalized" bank must develop a capital restoration plan and its parent holding company must guarantee that bank's compliance with the plan. The liability of the parent holding company under any such guarantee is limited to the lesser of 5% of the bank's assets at the time it became undercapitalized or the amount needed to comply with the plan. Furthermore, in the event of the bankruptcy of the parent holding company, such guarantee would take priority over the parent's general unsecured creditors. In addition, FDICIA requires the various regulatory agencies to prescribe certain non-capital standards for safety and soundness related generally to operations and management, asset quality and executive compensation and permits regulatory action against a financial institution that does not meet such standards.
The various federal bank regulatory agencies have adopted substantially similar regulations that define the five capital categories identified by FDICIA, using the total risk-based capital, Tier 1 risk-based capital and leverage capital ratios as the relevant capital measures. Such regulations establish various degrees of corrective action to be taken when an institution is considered undercapitalized. Under the regulations, a "well capitalized" institution must have a Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6%, a total capital ratio of at least 10% and a leverage ratio of at least 5% and not be subject to a capital directive order. An "adequately capitalized" institution must have a Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 4%, a total capital ratio of at least 8% and a leverage ratio of at least 4%, or 3% in some cases.
As of December 31, 2004, both Community Bancorp. and Community National Bank were considered "well capitalized" under all applicable regulatory requirements.
Dividends. The Company derives funds for payment of dividends to its shareholders primarily from dividends received from its subsidiary, Community National Bank. The Bank is subject to various general regulatory policies and requirements relating to the payment of dividends, including requirements to maintain capital above regulatory minimums. Prior approval from the OCC is required if the total of all dividends declared by a national bank in any calendar year will exceed the sum of such bank's net profits for that last year and its retained net profits for the preceding two calendar years, less any required transfers to surplus. Federal law also prohibits national banks from paying dividends greater than the bank's undivided profits after deducting statutory bad debt in excess of the bank's allowance for loan losses.
In addition, the Company and the Bank are subject to various general regulatory policies and requirements relating to the payment of dividends, including requirements to maintain adequate capital above regulatory minimums. The appropriate federal or state banking agency is authorized to determine under certain circumstances relating to the financial condition of a bank or bank holding company that the payment of dividends would be an unsafe or unsound practice and to prohibit such payment. The federal banking agencies have indicated that paying dividends that deplete a bank's capital base to an inadequate level would be an unsound and unsafe banking practice and that banking organizations should generally pay dividends only out of current operating earnings.
"Source of Strength" Policy. According to Federal Reserve Board policy, bank holding companies are expected to act as a source of financial strength to each subsidiary bank and to commit resources to support each such subsidiary. This support may be required at times when a bank holding company may not be able to provide such support. Similarly, under the cross-guarantee provisions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, in the event of a loss suffered or anticipated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the "FDIC")--either as a result of default of a banking subsidiary of a bank holding company or related to FDIC assistance provided to a subsidiary in danger of default--the other banking subsidiaries of such bank holding company may be assessed for the FDIC's loss, subject to certain exceptions.
OCC Supervision; FDIC Deposit Insurance. The Bank is a national banking association and subject to the provisions of the National Bank Act and federal and state statutes and rules and regulations applicable to national banks. The primary supervisory authority for the Bank is the OCC. The OCC's examinations are designed for the protection of the Bank's depositors and not its shareholders. The Bank is subject to periodic examination by the OCC and must file periodic reports with the OCC containing a full and accurate statement of its affairs. The deposits of the Bank are insured by the FDIC. Accordingly, the Bank is also subject to the provisions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.
Consumer Protection and Community Reinvestment Laws. The Bank is subject to a variety of federal and state laws intended to protect borrowers, depositors and other Bank customers and to promote lending to various sectors of the economy and population. These laws include, but are not limited to, the Federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Federal Truth In Lending Act, the Federal and Vermont Equal Credit Opportunity Acts, the Federal and Vermont Fair Credit Reporting Acts, the Vermont Financial Privacy Act, the Federal Right to Financial Privacy Act, the Federal Truth in Savings Act, the Federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act, and the Federal Community Reinvestment Act ("CRA").
The CRA requires banks to define the communities they serve, identify the credit needs of those communities, collect and maintain data for each small business or small farm loan originated or purchased by the Bank, and maintain a Public File at each location. The federal banking regulators examine the institutions they regulate for compliance with the CRA and assign one of the following four ratings: "outstanding," "satisfactory," "needs to improve" or "substantial noncompliance". The rating assigned reflects the bank's record of helping to meet the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with the safe and sound operation of the bank. As of the Bank's last CRA examination, it received a rating of "outstanding".
Brokered Deposits. Under FDICIA, an FDIC-insured bank is prohibited from accepting brokered deposits unless it is well capitalized under the FDICIA's prompt corrective actions guidelines. In January of 2003, the Company entered into an agreement with Promontory Interfinancial Network making it possible to offer our customers insurance protection for their deposits in excess of $100,000. This Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS) uses a deposit-matching engine to match CDARS deposits in other participating banks, dollar- for-dollar. This product is designed to enhance customer attraction and retention, build deposits and improve net interest margins, while providing additional FDIC coverage to customers. Promontory now offers member banks an opportunity to participate with one-way orders. Banks can either accept deposits as a surplus bank or place deposits in CDARS offered by banks seeking funding without matching funds. The Promontory Interfinancial Network provides the Company an alternative source of funding or investment opportunities, while at the same time increasing the level of FDIC insurance available to deposit customers.
Due to the nature of the placement of funds, CDARS deposits are considered to be "brokered deposits." Although it has been the Company's policy in the past not to accept any brokered deposits, management and the directors deemed it advisable to make a limited exception for the CDARS program. Accordingly, the Company's Asset Liability policy now states that the Company will not accept brokered deposits, other than through the CDARS program in the Promontory Interfinancial Network. To date, the amount of brokered deposits accepted through the CDARS program is not considered by management to be material.
Reserve Requirements. Federal Reserve Board Regulation D requires all depository institutions to maintain reserves against their transaction accounts (generally, demand deposits, NOW accounts and certain other types of acounts that permit payments or transfers to third parties) or non-personal time deposits (generally, money market deposit accounts or other savings deposits held by corporations or other depositors that are not natural persons, and certain other types of time deposits), subject to certain exemptions. Because required reserves must be maintained in the form of either vault cash, a non-interest bearing account at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston or a pass through account (as defined by the Federal Reserve Board), the effect of these reserve requirements is to reduce the amount of the Company's interest-bearing assets.
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Effects of Government Monetary Policy
The earnings of the Company are affected by general and local economic conditions and by the policies of various governmental regulatory authorities. In particular, the Federal Reserve Board regulates money and credit conditions and interest rates in order to influence general economic conditions, primarily through open market operations in United States Government Securities, varying the discount rate on member bank borrowings, setting reserve requirements against member and nonmember bank deposits, and regulating interest rates payable by member banks on time and savings deposits. Federal Reserve Board monetary policies have had a significant effect on the operating results of commercial banks, including the Company, in the past and are expected to continue to do so in the future.
Other Available Information
This annual report on Form 10-K is on file with SEC. The Company also files with the SEC quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, as well as proxy materials for its annual meeting of shareholders. You may obtain copies of these documents by visiting the SEC's Public Reference Room at 450 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20549, by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 or by accessing the SEC's website at
http://www.sec.gov. The Company's SEC-filed reports and proxy statements are also available on the Company's website at http://www.communitybancorpvt.com. The Company has also posted on its website the Company's Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers and the Principal Executive Officer; the Insider Trading Policy and the charter of the Audit, Compensation, and Nominating Committees. The information and documents contained on the Company's website do not constitute part of this report. Copies of the Company's reports filed with the SEC (other than exhibits) can also be obtained by contacting Chris Bumps, Corporate Secretary, at our principal offices, which are located at 4811 U.S. Route 5, Derby, Vermont 05829 or by calling (802) 334-7915.
Item 2.
Item 2. Properties
Although Community Bancorp. does not itself own or lease real property, The Bank owns and leases various properties for its banking operations. The Company's administrative offices are located at the main offices of the Bank. All of the Bank's offices are located in Vermont. In addition to the main office in Derby, the Bank maintains facilities in the Cities of Newport, Montpelier and Barre; the Towns of Barton and St. Johnsbury, and the Villages of Island Pond, Troy and Derby Line.
The Bank's main offices are located in a 15,000 square foot, two-story brick building on U.S. Route 5 in Derby, Vermont, equipped with a drive-up facility as well as an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Computer and similar support equipment is also located in the main office building. The Company is currently in the process of constructing a major addition, which will house an operations center and a conference room for the Bank's use as well as various non-profit organizations, free of charge, upon request. Also on site is a newly completed remote drive-up facility, and an additional ATM featuring drive-up access.
The Bank owns the Derby Line office located on Main Street in a renovated bank building. The facility consists of a small banking lobby of approximately 200 square feet with additional office space on the first and second floor. This office is also equipped with a walk-up ATM.
The Bank's Island Pond office is located in the renovated "Railroad Station" acquired by the town of Brighton in 1993. The Bank leases approximately two-thirds of the downstairs including a banking lobby, a drive-up window, and an ATM. The other portion of the downstairs is occupied by an information center, and the upstairs section houses the Island Pond Historical Society.
The Bank's Barton office is located on Church Street, in a renovated facility. This office is equipped with a banking lobby, a drive-up window, and an ATM. The lease was entered into in 1985 with a fifteen-year term, and was most recently renewed in 2000 for an additional 15 years.
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The Bank owns condominium space in the state office building on Main Street in Newport to house its Newport office. The Bank occupies approximately 3,084 square feet on the first floor of the building for a full service banking facility equipped with a remote drive-up facility and an ATM. In addition, the Bank owns approximately 4,400 square feet on the second floor, a portion of which formerly housed the Bank's trust department and is now leased to CFSG, LLC, with another portion leased to a law firm.
The Bank owns the Troy office located in the village of Troy. This building was built in 1986 and acquired by the Bank in 1992. This office is also equipped with an ATM to provide the same type of limited 24-hour accessibility as all of the other offices. The marketing department is also located at this facility.
The St. Johnsbury office is located at the corner of the I-91 Access Road and Route 5 in the town of St. Johnsbury. The Bank occupies approximately 2,250 square feet in the front of the Price Chopper building. Fully equipped with an ATM and a drive-up window, this office operates as a full service banking facility. This space is leased from Murphy Realty of St. Johnsbury. Peter Murphy, President of Murphy Realty, is a member of the Bank's St. Johnsbury Advisory Board.
The Bank leases approximately 1,500 square feet of office space for the Montpelier office located at 95 State Street in Montpelier. This office opened at the end of May, 2001, operating as a full service banking facility. Additional office space is leased in an adjacent building at 99 State Street to accommodate a residential mortgage loan originator, as well as a conference room used for loan closings. A stand-alone ATM in a Kiosk building is also located at this site.
The Bank's newest office is located in Barre in a two-story, 8,000 square foot building located at 316 North Main Street. This new building constructed in 2003 on leased land, houses a full-service branch, a two-lane drive-up window, including a drive-up ATM, as well as an inside lobby ATM. The branch also includes a Community Room that is made available as a public service to outside non-profit groups to be used for meetings and gatherings at no charge. The ground lease provides for a twenty year term and includes a purchase option exercisable at the end of the sixth year, with one-half of the annual rental previously paid applied to the purchase price.
Item 3.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
There are no pending legal proceedings to which the Company is a party or of which any of its property is the subject, other than routine litigation incidental to its banking business none of which is material to the Company's operations or financial condition.
Item 4.
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
None
PART II.
Item 5.
Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Information on the market price of, and dividends paid on, the Company's common stock is incorporated by reference to Page 57 of the Annual Report to Shareholders under the caption "Common Stock Performance by Quarter" for 2004.
The following table provides information as to purchases of the Company's common stock during the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2004, by the Company and by any affiliated purchaser (as defined in SEC Rule 10b-18):
(1) 4,705 shares were purchased by Community Financial Services Group, LLC ("CFSG"), which may be deemed to be an affiliate of the Company under Rule 10b-18, for the account of participants invested in the Company Stock Fund under the Company's Retirement Savings Plan. All purchases by CFSG were made in the open market in brokerage transactions and reported on the OTC Bulletin Board©.
(2) The Company's Board of Directors in April, 2000 initially authorized the repurchase from time to time of up to 205,000 shares of the Company's common stock in open market and privately negotiated transactions, in management's discretion and as market conditions may warrant. The Board extended this authorization on October 15, 2002 to repurchase an additional 200,000 shares, with an aggregate limit for such repurchases under both authorizations of $3.5 million. The approval did not specify a termination date.
Item 6.
Item 6. Selected Financial Data
Incorporated by reference to Pages 27, 32, 45, and 46 of the Annual Report to Shareholders for 2004, filed as Exhibit 13 to this report.
Item 7.
Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation
Incorporated by reference to Pages 34-56 of the Annual Report to Shareholders for 2004, filed as Exhibit 13 to this report.
Item 7a.
Item 7a. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Incorporated by reference to the section labeled "Risk Management", beginning on page 43, of Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation in the Annual Report to Shareholders for 2004, filed as Exhibit 13 to this report.
Item 8.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
The audited consolidated financial statements and related notes of Community Bancorp. and Subsidiary and the report thereon of the independent registered accounting firm of Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker, are incorporated herein by reference from the Annual Report to Shareholders for 2004, filed as Exhibit 13 to this report, at Page 5 through Note 26 on Page 33.
Item 9A.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
The Company's management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Company's disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), as of December 31, 2003. Based upon that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were effective in ensuring that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms.
There was no change made during the fourth quarter of 2004 in the Company's internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B.
Item 9B. Other Information
Not Applicable
PART III.
Item 10.
Item 10. Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant
The following is incorporated by reference to the Company's Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 10, 2005:
Listing of the names, ages, principal occupations and business experience of the directors under the
caption "ARTICLE I - ELECTION OF DIRECTORS."
Listing of the names, ages, titles and business experience of the executive officers under the caption EXECUTIVE OFFICERS."
Information regarding compliance with Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 under the caption "SHARE OWNERSHIP INFORMATION -Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance."
Information regarding whether a member of the Audit Committee qualifies as an audit committee financial expert under applicable SEC rules, under the caption "Corporate Governance - Board Committees."
The Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers and the Principal Executive Officer is available on the Company's website at
www.communitybancorpvt.com. The Code was also listed as Exhibit 14 to this report and incorporated by reference to a prior filing with the SEC.
Item 11.
Item 11. Executive Compensation
The following is incorporated by reference to the Company's Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 10, 2005:
Information regarding compensation of directors under the captions "ARTICLE I - ELECTION OF DIRECTORS - Directors' Fees and Other Compensation" and "-Directors' Deferred Compensation Plan."
Information regarding executive compensation and benefit plans under the caption "EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION."
Information regarding management interlocks and certain transactions under the caption "CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation."
Item 12.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management
The following is incorporated by reference to the Company's Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 10, 2005:
Information regarding the share ownership of management and principal shareholders under the
captions "SHARE OWNERSHIP INFORMATION" and "ARTICLE I - ELECTION OF DIRECTORS."
The Company does not maintain any equity compensation plans for which disclosure is required under Item 201(d) of SEC Regulation S-K.
Item 13.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions
The following is incorporated by reference to the Company's Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 10, 2005:
Information regarding transactions with management under the caption "CORPORATE GOVERNANCE -Transactions with Management."
Item 14.
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The following is incorporated by reference to the Company's Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 10, 2005 under the caption "ARTICLE 2- RATIFICATION OF SELECTION OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS - Fees Paid to Independent Auditors":
Fees paid to the principal accountant for various audit functions including, but not limited to, the audit of the annual financial statements in the Company's From 10-K Report and review of the financial statements in the Company's Form 10-Q Reports.
Description of the audit committee's pre-approval policies and procedures required by paragraph (c) (7)(I) of rule 2-01of Regulation S-X.
PART IV.
Item 15.
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
(a) Financial Statements
The Company's audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and the report of Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker thereon, are incorporated by reference to the Annual Report to Shareholders for fiscal year 2004, filed as Exhibit 13 to this report.
(b) Exhibits
The following exhibits are incorporated by reference:
Exhibit 3(i) - Amended and Restated Articles of Association filed as Exhibit 3(i) of the Company's Form 10-Q report
filed with the Commission on November 9, 2004.
Exhibit 3(iii) - Amended and Restated By-laws of Community Bancorp. filed as Exhibit 3(ii) of the Company's
Form 10-Q report filed with the Commission on November 9, 2004
Exhibit 10(i) - Directors Deferred Compensation Plan* is incorporated by reference to exhibit 10(i) of
the Form 10-K filed with the Commission on March 31, 2000.
Exhibit 10(ii) - Supplemental Retirement Plan* is incorporated by reference to exhibit 10(ii) of the Form 10-K
filed with the Commission on March 29, 2002.
Exhibit 10(iii) - Description of the Officer Incentive Plan* is incorporated by reference to the section of the Company's Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 4, 2004, under the
caption "EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION - Officer Incentive Plan."
Exhibit 10(v) - AIA Document dated January 24, 2005, a standard form of agreement between Community National Bank, Kingdom Construction, Inc. and Black River Design Architects, LLC, including exhibits to the agreement or summaries thereof, is incorporated by reference to exhibit 99.1 of the Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 27, 2005.
Exhibit 14 - Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers and the Principal Executive Officer is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14 of the Form 10-K filed with the Commission on March 30, 2004.
The following exhibits are filed as part of this report:
Exhibit 10(iv) - Directors Retirement Plan*
Exhibit 13 - Portions of the Annual Report to Shareholders of Community Bancorp. for 2004,
specifically incorporated by reference into this report.
Exhibit 21 - Subsidiaries of Community Bancorp.
Exhibit 23(i) - Consent of Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker
Exhibit 23(ii) - Consent of A. M. Peisch & Company
Exhibit 31.1 - Certification from the Chief Executive Officer of the Company pursuant to section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Exhibit 31.2 - Certification from the Chief Financial Officer of the Company pursuant to section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Exhibit 32.1 - Certification from the Chief Executive Officer of the Company pursuant to section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Exhibit 32.2 - Certification from the Chief Financial Officer of the Company pursuant to section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
________________
*Denotes compensatory plan or arrangement.
(c) Financial Statement Schedules
The reissued report of predecessor accountants with respect to the Company's audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2002 is set forth below:
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders
Community Bancorp. and Subsidiaries
Derby, Vermont
We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of income, stockholders' equity, and cash flows for Community Bancorp. and Subsidiaries for the year ended December 31, 2002. These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with U. S. generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Community Bancorp. and Subsidiaries at December 31, 2002, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2002 in conformity with U. S. generally accepted accounting principles.
January 10, 2003
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
VT Reg. No. 92-0000102
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
COMMUNITY BANCORP.
BY: /s/ Richard C. White
Date: March 30, 2005
Richard C. White, Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.