Univest Financial Profile
Univest Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Univest Bank and Trust Co. that provides financial solutions to individuals, businesses, municipalities and non-profit organizations.
The bank is a Pennsylvania state-chartered bank and trust company. The bank is engaged in domestic banking services for individuals, businesses, municipalities and non-profit organizations. Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, the bank provides a variety of financial services throughout its markets of operation. The bank is the parent company of Girard Investment Services, LLC, a full-service registered introducing broker-dealer and a licensed insurance agency, Girard Advisory Services, LLC, a registered investment advisory firm and Girard Pension Services, LLC, a registered investment advisor, which provides investment consulting and management services to municipal entities. Girard Investments is headquartered in Souderton, Pennsylvania and Girard Advisory Services is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The bank is also the parent company of Univest Capital, Inc., an equipment financing business headquartered in Warminster, Pennsylvania, and Univest Insurance, LLC, an independent insurance agency headquartered in Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
Market Area
The company's headquarters and main office is located in Souderton, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, which is located in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The company provides banking and financial services to customers in 19 counties in the Southeastern, Central and Western regions of Pennsylvania, three counties in New Jersey and four counties in Maryland. The highest concentration of the company’s deposits and loans are in Montgomery, Bucks, Lancaster and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania where the company’s financial centers are located.
Segments
The company operates through three operating segments: Banking, Wealth Management and Insurance.
The banking segment provides financial services to individuals, businesses, municipalities and non-profit organizations. These services include a full range of banking services such as deposit taking, loan origination and servicing, mortgage banking, other general banking services and equipment lease financing.
The Wealth Management segment offers investment advisory, financial planning, trust and brokerage services. The Wealth Management segment serves a diverse client base of private families and individuals, municipal pension plans, retirement plans, trusts and guardianships.
The Insurance segment includes a full-service insurance brokerage agency offering commercial property and casualty insurance, employee benefit solutions, personal insurance lines and human resources consulting.
Loans and Leases
As of December 31, 2023, the company’s loans and leases included commercial, financial, and agricultural loans; real estate-commercial loans; real estate-construction loans; real estate-residential secured for business purpose; real estate-residential secured for personal purpose; real estate-home equity secured for personal purpose; loans to individuals; and lease financings.
Investment Securities
As of December 31, 2023, the company’s investment securities included state and political subdivisions; residential mortgage-backed securities; collateralized mortgage obligations; corporate bonds; and equity securities.
Deposits
As of December 31, 2023, the company’s deposits included noninterest-bearing deposits, interest-bearing checking deposits, money market savings, regular savings, and time deposits.
Supervision and Regulation
The company is registered as a bank holding company pursuant to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956.
As a state-chartered member bank of the Federal Reserve System, the bank is regulated primarily by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
The bank is subject to supervision and is regularly examined by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The bank is also subject to examination by the FDIC.
The company is subject to the reporting requirements of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the ‘Board’), and the company, together with its subsidiaries, is subject to examination by the Board.
The bank received a ‘satisfactory’ CRA rating in its most recent federal examination.
The bank must comply with the anti-money laundering provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act (the ‘BSA’) as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act, and implementing regulations issued by the Board and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The bank's deposits are insured up to applicable limits by the Deposit Insurance Fund of the FDIC.
The bank's authority to extend credit to its and its affiliates' directors, executive officers and 10% shareholders (insiders), as well as to entities controlled by such insiders (related interests), is governed by the requirements of Sections 22(g) and 22(h) of the Federal Reserve Act and the Act's implementing regulation, Regulation O.
The bank's operations are also subject to federal laws and regulations applicable to credit transactions, such as the: Truth-In-Lending Act, governing disclosures of credit terms to consumer borrowers; Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, requiring that borrowers for mortgage loans for one- to four-family residential real estate receive various disclosures, including good faith estimates of settlement costs, lender servicing and escrow account practices, and prohibiting certain practices that increase the cost of settlement services; Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, requiring financial institutions to provide information to enable the public and public officials to determine whether a financial institution is fulfilling its obligation to help meet the housing needs of the community it serves; Fair Credit Reporting Act, governing the use and provision of information to credit reporting agencies; Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, governing the manner in which consumer debts may be collected; Truth in Savings Act; Laws and regulations prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices; and other regulations of the various federal agencies charged with the responsibility of implementing such federal laws.
The operations of the bank are further subject to the: Right to Financial Privacy Act, which imposes a duty to maintain confidentiality of consumer financial records and prescribes procedures for complying with administrative subpoenas of financial records; Electronic Funds Transfer Act and Regulation E promulgated thereunder, which govern automatic deposits to and withdrawals from deposit accounts and consumer customers' rights and liabilities arising from the use of automated teller machines and other electronic banking services; Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (also known as ‘Check 21’), which gives ‘substitute checks,’ such as digital check images and copies made from that image, the same legal standing as the original paper checks; Regulations of the Office of Foreign Assets Control that enforce economic and trade sanctions programs based on United States foreign policy and national security goals; and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which places limitations on the sharing of consumer financial information by financial institutions with unaffiliated third parties. Specifically, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires all financial institutions offering financial products or services to retail customers to provide such customers with the financial institution's privacy policy and provide such customers the opportunity to ‘opt out’ of the sharing of certain personal financial information with unaffiliated third parties.
The company’s common stock is registered with the SEC under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the ‘Exchange Act’). The company is also subject to the proxy rules, tender offer rules, insider trading restrictions, annual and periodic reporting, and other requirements of the Exchange Act.
The company is subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (‘SOX’). Pursuant to Section 404 of SOX (‘SOX 404’), management of the company is required to furnish a report on internal control over financial reporting, identify any material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting and assert that such internal controls are effective. The company has continued to be in compliance with SOX 404 during 2023.
The company's wealth management and insurance businesses are subject to additional regulatory requirements. The securities brokerage activities of Girard Investment Services, LLC are subject to regulation by the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Girard Advisory Services, LLC and Girard Pension Services, LLC are registered investment advisory firms which are subject to regulation by the SEC. Univest Insurance, LLC and Girard Investment Services, LLC are licensed by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department and are subject to Pennsylvania law and the Pennsylvania Insurance Department's regulations.
The bank is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank System (‘FHLBanks’) and is subject to supervision and regulation by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The bank, as a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (‘FHLB’), is required to acquire and hold shares of capital stock in the FHLB.
History
The company, a Pennsylvania corporation, was founded in 1876. It was formerly known as Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania and changed its name to Univest Financial Corporation in 2019.
