Trust Preferred Securities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Trust Preferred Securities [Abstract]

Trust Preferred Securities

NOTE 9: TRUST PREFERRED SECURITIES

On December 15, 2004, we closed our private placement of an aggregate of $20 million of trust preferred securities. The placement occurred through a newly formed Delaware statutory trust affiliate, MBVT Statutory Trust I (the “Trust”), as part of a pooled trust preferred program. The Trust was formed for the sole purpose of issuing capital securities which are non-voting. We own all of the common securities of the Trust. The proceeds from the sale of the capital securities were loaned to us under deeply subordinated debentures issued to the Trust. The debentures are the only asset of the Trust and payments under the debentures are the sole revenue of the Trust. Our primary source of funds to pay interest on the debentures held by the Trust is current dividends from our principal subsidiary, Merchants Bank. Accordingly, our ability to service the debentures is dependent upon the continued ability of Merchants Bank to pay dividends to us.

These hybrid securities currently qualify as regulatory capital, up to certain regulatory limits. At the same time they are considered debt for tax purposes, and as such, interest payments are fully deductible. The trust preferred securities total $20.62 million, and carried a fixed rate of interest through December 2009 at which time the rate became variable and adjusts quarterly at three month LIBOR plus 1.95%. We entered into two interest rate swap arrangements for our trust preferred issuance which were effective beginning on December 15, 2009. One swap fixed the interest rate on $10 million at 6.5% for three years; this swap expired on December 15, 2012 and has not been extended or renewed. The second swap fixed the rate on $10 million at 5.23% and expires on December 15, 2016. The impact on net interest income for 2012, 2011 and 2010 from the interest expense on the trust preferred securities was $1.18 million, $1.19 million and $1.19 million per year, respectively. The trust preferred securities mature on December 31, 2034, and are redeemable without penalty at our option, subject to prior approval by the FRB.