According to the manager at our branch, the proxy votes have all been counted and the move to trade Asheville Savings Bank on the stock market has been "unanimously decided.” (How can it be unanimous if we voted against it?)
What's so bad about this? Well, the stock market is much less stable than the bank's previous customer-owned Mutual Fund structure. If Asheville Savings Bank's stock tanks, customer accounts will still be OK because they're FDIC insured. But wait — FDIC is funded by our tax money. If the bank's stock fails, it would cost taxpayers millions. Though technically illegal, insider trading continues unchecked on Wall Street, so while taxpayers suffer, traders in the know could profit handsomely if the bank's stock tumbles.
I'm mad enough at Wall Street. I didn't want Asheville Savings Bank to be part of that corrupt institution. Now that they are, Asheville Savings is no longer a local bank.
My family will move our money to a truly local bank or credit union.
— David Lynch
Asheville
Huh? The stock will perform poorly if the company performs poorly. There is no greater or lesser risk of failure due to the new corporate structure.
Don’t know how it could have been “unanimous” since I voted against it to.
Will be moving my money as well. I have long patronized Asheville Savings BECAUSE it was a local bank.
Time to move on.
Seriously? SERIOUSLY???
The bank decides to issue shares of stock to raise capital and you people are abandoning it for trying to improve it’s financial strength?
“Wall Street is a corrupt and evil institution” sounds like the rhetoric of someone who once talked to a guy who knew a guy who skimmed through the Communist Manifesto during his half semester at community college.
The price of the stock is tied entirely to supply and demand. There is a set amount of shares to supply the market, and demand will dictate how high or low the price goes.
These comments just prove how ignorant you people are about Wall Street and capitalism in general.
Demutualizing a bank can happen for a number of reasons, one of which is featherbedding current management with lotsa options, which incentivizes a “greatest hits” approach to reporting results, by which I mean hiding bad loans, valuing other assets way beyond market, and other “investment strategies” that led to the meltdown that devalued most folks’ 401k’s and somehow Mr. Obama is to blame.
I actually read the prospectus for the Asheville Savings demutualization, thought it was really bad for current owners (depositors), and voted against it. The “unanimous” shareholder vote is the kind of total confection we can likely expect in their 8-K’s.
If you were not ignorant about Wall Street and capitalism in general, I’m sure you would have voted against it as well. Blanket statements like “the price of the stock is tied entirely to supply and demand” lead me to believe you might not have the understanding you think you do.
“…and somehow Mr. Obama is to blame.” (You don’t get out much, do you?)
Blame the arsonist, not the firefighter.