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Heritage Bank, N.A. To Become Herald National Bank
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Heritage Bank N.A. (NYSE Alternext US: HNB), a nationally chartered commercial bank based in New York City, announced today that it will officially change its name, and be known as Herald National Bank. The change comes following a conflict with a New Jersey based commercial bank that holds the trademark rights to the Heritage brand. The current stock symbol of HNB will remain unchanged. While the legal and regulatory steps to formalize the name change will be completed over the next 4-6 weeks, the bank began operating under the Herald National Bank trade name upon the close of business on Friday, January 2, 2009.
“We believe that we could ultimately succeed in defending our use of the Heritage brand, both in New Jersey and elsewhere,” said David S. Bagatelle, President and CEO of Herald National Bank. “But based on the fact that we’ve been open for a month, and that mounting such a legal effort would be an unnecessary distraction, we’ve decided to move past this minor inconvenience and prioritize building our business and serving our clients. While our name may change, we remain focused on providing the small and middle market businesses of the New York metro area with unparalleled relationship-based banking services while continuing to build value for our shareholders,” Bagatelle added.
Herald National Bank will look to continue to execute on its business plan of recruiting top bankers in the area and providing each the support and products necessary to service their clients in a manner befitting a premier relationship-based financial institution. As a nationally chartered commercial banking institution, Herald National Bank plans to physically enter New Jersey in the near future as a means of supporting a number of banking teams already on board who conduct a great deal of business in that market.
About Herald National Bank
Herald National Bank, member FDIC, is a relationship-based banking institution dedicated to serving the commercial and private banking needs of small to mid-size businesses and high net worth individuals in the New York metropolitan area. Herald National Bank began operations after setting a new capital record ($62 million) for an independent start-up bank in New York State.
For more information, visit www.heraldnb.com
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Contacts:
George Morin
KDJ Communications
George@KDJcommunications.com
(212) 461-2158
Heritage Bank, N.A. has changed its trade name to “Herald National Bank.” Neither organization is affiliated with Heritage Community Bank, headquartered at 1206 Sussex Turnpike, Randolph, NJ 07869, or any other Heritage Bank or similarly named bank presently in operation.