- Hudson City Bancorp
Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (nasdaq|HCBK) based in
Paramus, New Jersey is a bank holding company for Hudson City Savings Bank, its only subsidiary, the largest savings bank in New Jersey, and one of the oldest banks in the United States, with US$35 billion in assets. It is now a fully publicly-held entity, and one of the most recent additions to theS&P 500 Index of the largest publicly-traded companies in the United States. In 2005 its US$3.93 billion secondary offering of common stock was the largest in United States banking history. At the time it was also the seventh largest domestic public offering in United States history, surpassingGoogle 's highly-publicized 2004 offering at US$2.7 billion, among others. [http://www.insurancebroadcasting.com/060905.htm#27 27. THACHER PROFFITT REPRESENTS HUDSON CITY BANCORP IN 7TH LARGEST DOMESTIC PUBLIC OFFERING IN HISTORY] , June 8, 2005, PRNewswire, Insurance Newscast, InsuranceBroadcasting.com]The company is located at West 80 Century Road, in Paramus, New Jersey. [http://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/InstitutionHistory.aspx?parID_RSSD=2367556&parDT_END=99991231 Institution History for HUDSON CITY BANCORP, INC. (2367556)] , National Information Center]
History
Hudson City Savings Bank
On
March 27 ,1868 the Hudson City Savings Bank received a special charter from theNew Jersey Legislature to open in what was then the smallHudson City, New Jersey .Garrett D. Van Reipen became the first President of the small bank. Van Reipen had been that city's first mayor. [https://www.hcsbonline.com/ Hudson City Savings Bank] ]By the early 1870s, the City of Hudson was annexed by
Jersey City, New Jersey , the second largest city in the state. By the end of the 19th Century, the bank had accumulated assets and deposits of over $1 million.By about 1905, the bank's assets reached US$2 million. During
World War I Hudson City Savings Bank soldLiberty Loan bonds andVictory Loan bonds , and also bought a half million dollars of war bonds. In January 1918,Robert J. Rendall became the savings bank's President, and by his death in 1950 he had become one of the longest serving Presidents in the company's history.In the 1920s, Hudson City Savings Bank opened its second branch office, and moved from the old headquarters on Newark Avenue, to 587 Summit Avenue in Jersey City. The company survived the aftermath of the
stock market crash of 1929 when many other banks closed. By the end of theGreat Depression of the 1930s, the savings bank had accumulated US$11 million in assets and held US$800,000 in reserves.During
World War II , Hudson City Savings Bank sold millions of dollars worth ofU.S. War Bonds . By the end of the 1940s, the savings bank had opened a total of three Jersey City branches, with over US$26 million in assets.In August 1950, President Robert J. Rendall died. During the 1950s New Jersey's growth rate was double the national average, boosting the savings bank's growth as well. By 1959, Hudson City Savings Bank had accumulated over US$50 million in assets.
In 1968,
Kenneth L. Birchby became President andCEO of Hudson City Savings Bank. By the late 1960s, New Jersey State banking laws made it legal for banks to operate across county lines. In 1969, Hudson City Savings Bank opened its fifth branch, and its first branch across the county line at Waldwick, inBergen County, New Jersey . The savings bank's total assets by then had reached US$175 million.During the long
secular bear market andeconomic malaise of the 1970s the savings bank grew to 37 branches in 12 New Jersey counties. In 1978, the headquarters moved to neighboringBergen County, New Jersey . By then the bank had accumulated total assets and deposits of over US$1.1 billion each.In 1981,
Leonard S. Gudelski became President. The savings bank survived the troubles surrounding double-digit inflation and interest rates, followed by theearly 1980s recession and then the late1980s Savings and Loan crisis when many other banks andsavings and loan s failed.In 1988,
Ronald E. Hermance, Jr. was hired at Hudson City Savings as Senior Executive Vice President andChief Operating Officer . He had previously beenChief Financial Officer ofSouthold Savings Bank onLong Island, New York . [http://stocks.us.reuters.com/stocks/OfficersDirectorsDetails.asp?rpc=66&symbol=HCBK.O&officerID=91028 Officers & Directors Detail Hudson City Bancorp Inc HCBK.O (NASDAQ), Hermance, Ronald E., Brief Biography] , Reuters.com] By the end of 1989, Hudson City Savings Bank had 69 branches and total assets of US$3.2 billion.Following the
1990-1991 recession , by 1992, Hudson City Savings Bank became the largest savings bank in New Jersey. In 1996, Leonard S. Gudelski was elected Chairman of the savings bank, and also retained his position as President through that year.In January 1997, Ronald E. Hermance, Jr. retained his position as COO, and also became promoted to replace Gudelski as the 11th President of Hudson City Savings Bank. Gudelski remained as Chairman.
Hudson City Bancorp
In February 1999, the savings bank initiated a plan of reorganization, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. The company issued stock for the first time, raising over US$500 million of new capital. Assets exceeded $8 billion by then.
On
July 13 ,1999 Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. was formally recognized by theUnited States Federal Reserve as the Bank Holding Company for the savings bank.On
January 1 ,2002 Ronald E. Hermance, Jr. retained his position as President and also became promoted from COO to CEO of the new holding company.On
January 1 ,2004 , the company was changed from a Bank Holding Company to a Domestic Entity Other as categorized by theFederal Reserve System , defined generically as a domestic institution that engages in the business of banking in the United States. The move was in preparation for its huge stock offering, the company's second-step mutual-to-stock conversion.On
January 1 ,2005 Ronald Hermance, Jr. replaced Gudelski as Chairman, as well as retaining his existing positions as President and CEO. In 2004, he had also begun serving on theboard of directors of theFederal Home Loan Bank of New York.On
June 8 ,2005 the company made the largest public stock offering in the history of the United States banking industry, represented byThacher Proffitt . The conversion from the mutual holding company structure made Hudson City Bancorp a fully publicly-held entity. In the public offering, 393 million shares were sold at $10.00 per share. The company also split its existing stock 3.206-for-one. The new Hudson City Bancorp shares traded on theNASDAQ under the ticker symbol symbol HCBK.By 2007, Hudson City Savings Bank had become the largest New Jersey based savings bank, and the third largest
savings and loan association in the United States, with over US$35 billion in assets, over 100 branches in New Jersey,New York andConnecticut , and with over 1,300 employees.On
February 14 ,2007 Hudson City Bancorp was added to the S&P 500 Index byStandard & Poor's , where it replacedAmerican Power Conversion Corporation (formerly nasdaq2|APCC).References
External links
* [http://www.hcsbonline.com Hudson City Savings Bank]
* [http://www.slate.com/id/2196406/ America's Smartest Banker: The nation's financial industry is cratering, so how come Hudson City Bank is thriving?] by Daniel Gross
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