UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C.  20549

 

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

 

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

April 16, 2020

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)

 

REPUBLIC FIRST BANCORP, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Pennsylvania

 

000-17007

 

23-2486815

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

 

(Commission

File Number)

 

(IRS Employer

Ident. No.)

 

 

 

 

 

50 South 16th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

19102

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

(Zip Code)

 

(215) 735-4422

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

 

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4 (c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 Title of each class

 Trading Symbol(s)

 Name of each exchange on which registered

 Common Stock

 FRBK

 Nasdaq Global Market

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR §230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR §240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

 

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Item 5.03           Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year.

 

On April 16, 2020, the Board of Directors of Republic First Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) amended Section 1 of Article I of the Company’s bylaws (Annual Meetings) and Section 4 of Article I of the Company’s bylaws (Quorum) to add language to permit meetings of shareholders to be held by means of internet or other electronic communications technology and to provide that the presence or participation by a shareholder at a meeting of shareholders, including voting and taking other action by electronic means, including the internet, will constitute the presence of, or vote or action by, the shareholder at the meeting.

 

The amendments to the Company’s bylaws are attached hereto as Exhibit 3.1.

 

Item 8.01           Other Events.

 

On April 20, 2020, the Company, issued a press release announcing that, due to the emerging health concerns relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the previously scheduled annual meeting of shareholders on April 29, 2020 will now be held as a virtual meeting. Shareholders will not be able to attend the virtual meeting in person, but will have the ability to participate in the meeting by virtual means and to vote their shares electronically if necessary. Although shareholders will not be able to attend the annual meeting in person, virtual attendance capabilities will also provide shareholders with the ability to participate and ask questions during the meeting. Additionally, shareholders will be deemed to be "present" if they access the annual meeting through the virtual platform and they will be able to vote their shares at the annual meeting, or revoke or change a previously submitted vote, through the virtual platform.

 

The full text of the press release issued in connection with the announcement is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

 

Item 9.01           Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d)           Exhibits:

 

3.1           Amendments to Section 1 and Section 4 of Article I of the Company’s bylaws.

 

99.1         Press release, dated April 20, 2020.

 

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

 

REPUBLIC FIRST BANCORP, INC.

 

 

 

Dated:   April 20, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

/s/  Frank A. Cavallaro

 

 

 

 

Frank A. Cavallaro

 

 

 

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

 

Exhibit 3.1

 

Text of Amended and Restated Sections 1 and 4 of Article I of Bylaws

(Revisions Shown by Underlining)

 

Section 1:

 

“Section 1.   Annual Meetings.  The annual meeting of the shareholders of the Corporation shall be held on a date fixed from time to time by the Board of Directors. An annual meeting may be held at any place in or out of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as may be determined by the Board of Directors and as shall be designated in the notice of the meeting and at the time specified by the Board of Directors. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, if a meeting of the shareholders is held by means of the internet or other electronic communications technology in a fashion pursuant to which the shareholders have the opportunity to read or hear the proceedings substantially concurrently with their occurrence, vote on matters submitted to the shareholders, pose questions to the directors, make appropriate motions and comment on the business of the meeting, the meeting need not be held at a particular geographic location. Any business of the Corporation may be transacted at an annual meeting without being specifically designated in the notice unless otherwise provided by statute, the Corporation’s Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (the “Articles of Incorporation”) or these By-Laws, as they may be amended from time to time.”

 

 

Section 4:

 

“Section 4. Quorum. Except as otherwise provided by statute or by the Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation, the presence at a meeting in person or by proxy of shareholders of the Corporation entitled to cast at least a majority of the votes entitled to be cast at such meeting shall constitute a quorum at a meeting of the shareholders. Except as otherwise provided by statute or by the Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation, all questions to be decided at any meeting shall be decided by majority vote of the shares so represented in person or by proxy at the annual meeting and entitled to vote. In the absence of a quorum, the shareholders present in person or by proxy at the meeting, by majority vote and without notice other than by announcement at the meeting, may adjourn the meeting from time to time as provided in Section 5 of this Article I until a quorum shall be present in person or by proxy. The shareholders present at any duly organized meeting may continue to do business until adjournment, notwithstanding the withdrawal of enough shareholders to leave less than a quorum present and voting at such meeting. The absence from a meeting of shareholders representing such number of shares making it impossible to meet any greater quorum requirement imposed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or other applicable statute, the Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation or these By-Laws for action upon any given matter shall not prevent action at the meeting on any other matter or matters that may properly come before the meeting, so long as there are present, in person or by proxy, holders of the number of shares of stock of the Corporation required for action upon the other matter or matters. The presence or participation, including voting and taking other action, at a meeting of shareholders or the expression of consent or dissent to corporate action by a shareholder by conference telephone or other electronic means, including, without limitation, the internet, shall constitute the presence of, or vote or action by, the shareholder for purposes of these By-Laws.”

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

News Release
  Republic First Bancorp, Inc.
  April 20, 2020  

 

                            

REPUBLIC FIRST BANCORP, INC. TO HOLD PREVIUOSLY ANNOUNCED ANNUAL MEETNING OF

SHAREHOLDERS ON APRIL 29, 2020 BY VIRTUAL MEANS DUE TO CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS

 

Philadelphia, PA -- April 20, 2020 (GlobeNewswire) – Republic First Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRBK)

 

Republic First Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”), the holding company for Republic Bank, today announced that, due to the continuing public health concerns relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and to protect the health and well-being of its shareholders, employees, and other members of the community, the Company's 2020 annual shareholder meeting will now be held virtually. A proxy statement supplement will be filed today with the Securities Exchange Commission with additional information concerning the virtual meeting, which we urge shareholders to read in its entirety.

 

Annual Shareholder Meeting Details

   
Date: April 29, 2020
Time: 5:00pm (EST)
Website: www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/FRBK2020

 

Although shareholders will not be able to attend the annual meeting in person, virtual attendance capabilities will provide shareholders with the ability to participate and ask questions during the meeting. Additionally, the Company's shareholders will be deemed to be "present" if they access the annual meeting through the virtual platform and they will be able to vote their shares at the annual meeting, or revoke or change a previously submitted vote, through the virtual platform.

 

To access and participate in the Annual Meeting as a shareholder you must enter a 16-digit voting control number. Shareholders who hold shares through a brokerage, bank or other institutional account can find this control number on the proxy card, voting instruction form or notice received previously with your annual proxy statement. Shareholders who hold shares directly must request a control number in advance by contacting Kemma Brown, our Corporate Secretary, at (888) 875-2265. This request must be made at least three business days prior to the meeting. If you do not have a control number, you may elect to participate in the meeting as a “Guest”, but you will not have access to vote your shares or ask questions during the virtual meeting.

 

The virtual meeting will be held on the same date and time as previously announced, April 29, 2020 at 5:00 PM (local time). As described in the proxy materials for the annual meeting previously distributed, the Company's shareholders are entitled to participate in the annual meeting if they were a shareholder of record as of the close of business on March 10, 2020, which is the record date for the annual meeting. The proxy card included with the proxy materials previously distributed will not be updated to reflect the information provided in this announcement and may continue to be used to vote each shareholder's shares in connection with the annual meeting.

 

Shareholders will be able to attend the meeting online, vote their shares electronically, and submit their questions during the meeting by visiting: www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/FRBK2020. In light of the foregoing, the Company urges shareholders to consider voting and submitting proxies in advance of the annual meeting using one of the available methods described in the proxy materials previously provided to the Company's shareholders.

 

 
 

 

About Republic Bank

 

Republic Bank, a subsidiary of Republic First Bancorp, Inc., is a full-service, state-chartered commercial bank, whose deposits are insured up to the applicable limits by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The Bank provides diversified financial products through its thirty stores located in Greater Philadelphia, Southern New Jersey and New York City. Republic Bank stores are open 7 days a week, 361 days a year, with extended lobby and drive-thru hours providing customers with some of the most convenient hours compared to any bank in its market. The Bank offers free checking, free coin counting, ATM/Debit cards issued on the spot and access to more than 55,000 surcharge free ATMs worldwide via the Allpoint Network. The Bank also offers a wide range of residential mortgage products through its mortgage division which does business under the name of Oak Mortgage Company. For more information about Republic Bank, visit www.myrepublicbank.com.

 

 

Forward Looking Statements

 

The Company may from time to time make written or oral “forward-looking statements”, including statements contained in this release and in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained herein, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For example, risks and uncertainties can arise with changes in: general economic conditions, including turmoil in the financial markets and related efforts of government agencies to stabilize the financial system; the adequacy of our allowance for loan losses and our methodology for determining such allowance; adverse changes in our loan portfolio and credit risk-related losses and expenses; concentrations within our loan portfolio, including our exposure to commercial real estate loans, and to our primary service area; changes in interest rates; business conditions in the financial services industry, including competitive pressure among financial services companies, new service and product offerings by competitors, price pressures and similar items; deposit flows; loan demand; the regulatory environment, including evolving banking industry standards, changes in legislation or regulation; impact of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; our securities portfolio and the valuation of our securities; accounting principles, policies and guidelines as well as estimates and assumptions used in the preparation of our financial statements; rapidly changing technology; litigation liabilities, including costs, expenses, settlements and judgments; the effects of health emergencies, including the spread of infectious diseases and pandemics; and other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory and technological factors affecting our operations, pricing, products and services. You should carefully review the risk factors described in the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and other documents the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The words “would be,” “could be,” “should be,” “probability,” “risk,” “target,” “objective,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “project,” “believe,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “seek,” “expect” and similar expressions or variations on such expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All such statements are made in good faith by the Company pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company, except as may be required by applicable law or regulations.

 

Source: Republic First Bancorp, Inc.
   
Contact: Frank A. Cavallaro, CFO
  (215) 735-4422

 

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