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 It seems that you cannot open a newspaper, view your
favorite homepage, or watch the news on television without hearing
about the mortgage crisis and how it has upset the financial markets
and put the squeeze on bank profits. These problems have found
Morton Community Bank (MCB) and its affiliates unscathed. In fact,
we are growing and gaining strength because of the financial crises
of some banks.
Our policy has always been to make secure loans,
loans that customers are financially able to payback...barring any
unforeseen changes in their economic status. We make sure we have
collateral coverage if those unforeseen changes come to pass. We did
not get into the subprime lending market and, therefore, have
remained stable.
While some banks are offering high interest rates on
short-term investments (which shows they are desperate for
deposits), MCB has remained conservative on both the loan and
deposit sides.
After the fall of IndyMac and Countrywide (2 of the
largest issuers of high-priced CDs in the last 2Ys), you can begin
to draw the correlation between banks that pay high rates and those
that don’t!
Banks that have been conservative with deposit and
loan pricing and the safety and soundness of their institution have
remained stable. In other words, sensibly priced deposits are a sign
of stability and strength.
At a time when half of all the banks are reporting
lower quarterly earnings in the first three quarters of 2008, with
negative growth on average of 5.95% for all insured banks in 2007, MCB’s Return On Equity is among the top 20 banks in Illinois! On
average, our asset size has doubled every five years during our
history and we intend to continue that success.
Gordon Honegger started at MCB when there were only
seven employees. This September, after completing the merger with
Alpha Community Bank, MCB now has 400 employees and 1.7 billion in
assets.
MCB is small enough to serve the customer that
desires the one-on-one personal service, yet large enough to offer
the high-tech services that our on-the-go customers expect.
The Owners and Directors of Morton Community Bank
have vowed to keep this organization a private, locally-owned,
community bank. As we grow we strive to keep the ‘small bank’ feel
by giving each office the community name so that each community
keeps its small-town community bank.
If you are nervous about your current bank’s
stability, we encourage you to stop into one of our offices and ask
for a ‘Statement of Condition.’ Come grow with us! We are proud of
our strong financial condition.
Gordon Honegger
Co-Chairman HCB Chairman Emeritus |
