Sound Community Bank to Convert to State Commercial Charter

Jan 2 - Sound Community Bank and its holding company, Sound Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: SFBC), have announced that the bank has been approved by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions for a conversion from a federal thrift charter to a Washington state commercial bank charter. The conversion will take place immediately.

The company expects that the charter conversion will not have substantial impact on the bank's current activities, products and services. There will also be no changes to the terms and conditions of loan and deposit accounts, although the bank expects certain annual cost savings related to regulatory fees as a result of the conversion.

Laurie Stewart, president and CEO, said, "In addition to the cost savings and slightly more flexibility in commercial lending, there are benefits to being regulated locally. As a community bank doing business in Washington, we believe the DFI has an understanding of issues facing banks in our state. If we want to talk to the regulator we simply go across the street instead of across the country."

As a result of the conversion, DFI will be the primary regulator for Sound Community Bank. The FDIC will continue to provide deposit insurance. The holding company will continue to be regulated by the Federal Reserve Bank.

Sound Community Bank is a Seattle-based community bank, providing personal and business banking services in King, Pierce, Snohomish and Clallam Counties, and on the Web at www.soundcb.com.