Bar Harbor Bank & Trust has applied for a piece of the $700 billion economic stimulus package the U.S. Congress approved in October, while other banks are considering doing the same thing.
The bank has applied for $18.8 million through the Capital Purchase Program, part of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to The Bar Harbor Times. For the bank to participate in the stimulus package program, the U.S. Treasury Department and the bank’s board of directors and shareholders would have to approve the bank’s request. Specifically, the shareholders would have to approve the issuance of preferred stock to the U.S. Treasury in exchange for the stimulus funds, the paper reported. Bar Harbor Bank & Trust CEO Joe Murphy told the paper that a special shareholders’ meeting could be held as soon as Dec. 22.
Officials at other local banks, including The First in Damariscotta and Machias Savings Bank, told The Bar Harbor Times that they are also thinking about applying for federal economic stimulus package funds. While the stimulus package program was originally intended for publicly traded banks, Don Reynolds, executive vice president of Machias Savings Bank, told the paper that privately held and mutual banks “may want to take advantage of [the federal stimulus package] because it’s considered to be relatively cheap capital.”
