WESTERLY, R.I., Sept. 27,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Washington Trust Company
("Washington Trust" or "the Bank"), the wholly owned subsidiary of
Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: WASH), today announced that
it has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department
of Justice ("DOJ") that resolves alleged violations of
fair lending laws in Rhode Island
from 2016 to 2021. The settlement does not include any civil
monetary penalties.
Washington Trust vehemently denies the allegations and entered
into this agreement solely to avoid the expense and distraction of
potential ligation, and to allow the Bank to focus fully on serving
the needs of its customers and communities.
"We believe we have been fully compliant with the letter and
spirit of fair lending laws, and the agreement will further
strengthen our focus on an area that has always been important to
us," stated Edward O. "Ned" Handy III, Washington Trust Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer. "Rhode
Island has been home to Washington Trust for 223 years and
our neighbors count on us to provide affordable loan opportunities
no matter where they live."
"We care about all of our communities across Rhode Island, and we demonstrate our
commitment through a number of proactive state-wide and corporate
initiatives," added Handy. "For example, our Washington Trust
RI Community Lending Program offers a variety of creative
affordable loan opportunities, and our financial literacy and
educational programs help potential borrowers prepare for home
ownership. In addition, our dedicated team includes multi-lingual
and minority community outreach and loan officers. We believe it is
as a result of our proactive community efforts that we have
steadily increased our lending in Majority-Minority Census Tracts
as we've expanded our branch network."
Under the agreement, Washington Trust will provide $7 million in mortgage loan subsidies over a
five-year period for mortgage, home improvement, or refinance
loans, in specific census tracts in RI. Washington Trust will also
commit $2 million for focused
community outreach and marketing efforts. Over the past five years,
Washington Trust has invested significantly in mortgage loan
subsidies, community outreach, and marketing in Majority-Minority
Census Tracts, and will continue these efforts to make positive
impact in these communities.
"As the oldest community bank in the nation, we were founded to
provide people with a trustworthy and local financial partner, and
that mission continues to guide us today. We deliver a consistently
superior banking experience to each and every member of the
community, and that contributes directly to our solid financial
foundation and the steady performance that we have achieved for
more than two centuries. We look forward to serving our community
long into the future," concluded Handy.
ABOUT WASHINGTON TRUST
BANCORP, INC.
Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. ("the
Corporation), NASDAQ: WASH, is the publicly-owned holding company
of The Washington Trust Company ("Washington Trust", "the Bank"),
with $7.0 billion in assets as of
June 30, 2023. Founded in 1800,
Washington Trust is recognized as the oldest community bank in
the nation, the largest state-chartered bank headquartered in
Rhode Island and one of the
Northeast's premier financial services companies. Washington Trust
values its role as a community bank and is committed to helping the
people, businesses, and organizations of New England improve their
financial lives. The Bank offers a wide range of commercial
banking, mortgage banking, personal banking and wealth management
services through its offices in Rhode
Island, Connecticut and
Massachusetts and a full suite of convenient digital tools.
Washington Trust is a member of the FDIC and an equal housing
lender. For more information, visit the Corporation's website at
ir.washtrust.com, or the Bank's website at www.washtrust.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This report contains
statements that are "forward-looking statements." We may also make
forward-looking statements in other documents we file with the SEC,
in our annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other
written materials, and in oral statements made by our officers,
directors or employees. You can identify forward-looking statements
by the use of the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate,"
"intend," "estimate," "assume," "outlook," "will," "should," and
other expressions that predict or indicate future events and trends
and which do not relate to historical matters. You should not rely
on forward-looking statements, because they involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are
beyond our control. These risks, uncertainties and other factors
may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be
materially different than the anticipated future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements.
Some of the factors that might cause these differences include
the following:
- changes in general business and economic conditions on a
national basis and in the local markets in which we operate;
- changes in customer behavior due to political, business, and
economic conditions, including inflation and concerns about
liquidity;
- interest rate changes or volatility, as well as changes in the
balance and mix of loans and deposits;
- changes in loan demand and collectability;
- the possibility that future credit losses are higher than
currently expected due to changes in economic assumptions or
adverse economic developments;
- ongoing volatility in national and international financial
markets;
- reductions in the market value or outflows of wealth
management AUA;
- decreases in the value of securities and other assets;
- increases in defaults and charge-off rates;
- changes in the size and nature of our competition;
- changes in legislation or regulation and accounting principles,
policies, and guidelines;
- operational risks including, but not limited to, changes in
information technology, cybersecurity
incidents, fraud, natural disasters, war,
terrorism, civil unrest, and future pandemics;
- regulatory, litigation, and reputational risks; and
- changes in the assumptions used in making such forward-looking
statements.
In addition, the factors described under "Risk Factors" in Item
1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2022, as updated by our
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings submitted to the
SEC, may result in these differences. You should carefully review
all of these factors and you should be aware that there may be
other factors that could cause these differences. These
forward-looking statements were based on information, plans, and
estimates at the date of this report, and we assume no obligation
to update any forward-looking statements to reflect changes in
underlying assumptions or factors, new information, future events,
or other changes.
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SOURCE Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc.