Use these links to rapidly review the document
Table of Contents

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2010

Commission File Number No. 0-14555

VIST FINANCIAL CORP.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

PENNSYLVANIA
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  23-2354007
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

1240 Broadcasting Road
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania 19610

(Address of principal executive offices)

(610) 208-0966
(Registrants telephone number, including area code)

         Securities registered under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:

Common Stock, $5.00 Par Value
(Title of each class)
  The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC
(Name of each exchange on which registered)

         Securities registered under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act:

         Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes  o     No  ý

         Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes  o     No  ý

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the past 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes  ý     No  o

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes  o     No  o

         Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ý

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer  o   Accelerated filer  o   Non-accelerated filer  o
(Do not check if a
smaller reporting company)
  Smaller reporting company  ý

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes  o     No  ý

         As of June 30, 2010, the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common stock of the registrant held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which common stock was last sold was approximately $42.1 million.

         Number of Shares of Common Stock Outstanding at March 21, 2011: 6,568,975

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

         Portions of the registrant's definitive Proxy Statement prepared in connection with its Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on April 26, 2011 are incorporated in Part III hereof.


Table of Contents


INDEX

 
   
  PAGE

PART I

   
 

Item 1.

 

Business

  1
 

Item 1A.

 

Risk Factors

  12
 

Item 1B.

 

Unresolved Staff Comments

  20
 

Item 2.

 

Properties

  21
 

Item 3.

 

Legal Proceedings

  23
 

Item 4.

 

[Removed and Reserved]

  23
 

Item 4A.

 

Executive Officers of the Registrant

  24

PART II

   
 

Item 5.

 

Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

  25
 

Item 6.

 

Selected Financial Data

  27
 

Item 7.

 

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

  29
 

Item 7A.

 

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

  70
 

Item 8.

 

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

  70
 

Item 9.

 

Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

  156
 

Item 9A.

 

Controls and Procedures

  156
 

Item 9B

 

Other Information

  159

PART III

   
 

Item 10.

 

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

  159
 

Item 11.

 

Executive Compensation

  159
 

Item 12.

 

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters

  159
 

Item 13.

 

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

  159
 

Item 14.

 

Principal Accounting Fees and Services

  159

PART IV

   
 

Item 15.

 

Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

  160

 

SIGNATURES

  163

Table of Contents


PART I

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

        VIST Financial Corp. (the "Company"), may from time to time make written or oral "forward-looking statements," including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the exhibits hereto and thereto), in its reports to shareholders and in other communications by the Company, which are made in good faith by the Company pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

        These forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the Company's beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions, that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various factors (some of which are beyond the Company's control). The words "may," "could," "should," "would," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause the Company's financial performance to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements: the strength of the United States economy in general and the strength of the local economies in which the Company conducts operations; the effects of, and changes in, trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; inflation, interest rate, market and monetary fluctuations; the timely development of and acceptance of new products and services of the Company and the perceived overall value of these products and services by users, including the features, pricing and quality compared to competitors' products and services; the willingness of users to substitute competitors' products and services for the Company's products and services; the success of the Company in gaining regulatory approval of its products and services, when required; the impact of changes in financial services' laws and regulations (including laws concerning taxes, banking, securities and insurance); technological changes; acquisitions; changes in consumer spending and saving habits; the nature, extent, and timing of governmental actions and reforms, including the rules of participation for the Trouble Asset Relief Program voluntary Capital Purchase Plan under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which may be changed unilaterally and retroactively by legislative or regulatory actions; and the success of the Company at managing the risks involved in the foregoing.

        The Company cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not exclusive. Readers are also cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's analysis only as of the date of this report, even if subsequently made available by the Company on its website or otherwise. 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 to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this report.

Item 1.    Business

        On March 3, 2008, the Company changed its name from Leesport Financial Corp. to VIST Financial Corp. This re-branding initiative brought all the Leesport Financial family of companies under one new name and brand.

        The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of VIST Financial Corp. (the "Company"), a bank holding company, which has elected to be treated as a financial holding company, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, VIST Bank (the "Bank"), VIST Insurance, LLC ("VIST Insurance") and VIST Capital Management, LLC ("VIST Capital"). As of December 31, 2010, the Bank's wholly-owned subsidiary, VIST Mortgage Holdings, LLC, was inactive. All significant inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

1


Table of Contents

        The Company is a Pennsylvania business corporation headquartered at 1240 Broadcasting Road, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania 19610. The Company was organized as a bank holding company on January 1, 1986. The Company's election with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to become a financial holding company became effective on February 7, 2002. The Company offers a wide array of financial services through its various subsidiaries. The Company's executive offices are located at 1240 Broadcasting Road, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania 19610.

        The Company's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Market system under the symbol "VIST."

        At December 31, 2010, the Company had total assets of $1.4 billion, total shareholders' equity of $132.4 million, and total deposits of $1.1 billion.

Subsidiary Activities

The Bank

        The Company's wholly-owned banking subsidiary is VIST Bank ("VIST Bank" or the "Bank"), a Pennsylvania chartered commercial bank. During the year ended December 31, 2000, the charters of The First National Bank of Leesport, incorporated under the laws of the United States of America as a national bank in 1909, and Merchants Bank of Pennsylvania, both wholly-owned banking subsidiaries of the Company at that time, were merged into a single charter. VIST Bank operates in Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania.

        On October 1, 2004, the Company acquired 100% of the outstanding voting shares of Madison Bancshares Group, Ltd., the holding company for Madison Bank ("Madison"), a Pennsylvania state-chartered commercial bank and its mortgage banking division, Philadelphia Financial Mortgage Company, now known as VIST Mortgage. Madison and VIST Mortgage are both now divisions of VIST Bank. The transaction enhanced the Bank's strong presence in Pennsylvania, particularly in the high growth counties of Berks, Philadelphia, Montgomery and Delaware.

        On November 19, 2010, the Company acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of Allegiance Bank of North America ("Allegiance") of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, through an FDIC-assisted whole bank acquisition. The Allegiance acquisition added five full-service locations in Chester and Philadelphia counties, of which the Company expects to close one by March 31, 2011. As part of the Allegiance acquisition, the Company entered into a loss-sharing agreement with the FDIC that covers a portion of losses incurred after the acquisition date on loans and other real estate owned. As of the acquisition date, the Company recorded $7.0 million as an indemnification asset, which represents the present value of the estimated loss share reimbursements expected to be received from the FDIC for future losses on covered assets. As part of the agreement, the FDIC will reimburse the Company for 70% of any losses incurred related to loans and other real estate owned covered under the loss-sharing agreement. Realized losses in excess of the acquisition date estimates will result in the FDIC increasing its reimbursement to the Company to 80%.

        The acquisition has been accounted for under the acquisition method of accounting. The assets and liabilities, both tangible and intangible, were recorded at their estimated fair values as of the November 19, 2010 acquisition date. Prior to purchase accounting adjustments, the Company assumed approximately $93.0 million in deposit liabilities and acquired certain assets of approximately $106.0 million. The application of the acquisition method of accounting resulted in recorded goodwill of $1.5 million. Fair value adjustments include a write-down of $12.0 million related to the covered loan portfolio, and increased liabilities of $534,000 related to time deposits and $553,000 related to long-term debt.

        VIST Bank has one wholly-owned subsidiary as of December 31, 2010; VIST Mortgage Holdings, LLC. VIST Mortgage Holdings, LLC, a Pennsylvania limited liability company, provides

2


Table of Contents


mortgage brokerage services, including, without limitation, any activity in which a mortgage broker may engage. It is operated as a permissible "affiliated business arrangement" within the meaning of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974. VIST Mortgage Holdings, LLC is currently inactive.

Commercial and Retail Banking

        VIST Bank provides services to its customers through twenty-two full service and two limited service financial centers, which operate under VIST Bank's name in Leesport, Blandon, Bern Township, Wyomissing, Breezy Corner, Hamburg, Birdsboro, Northeast Reading, Exeter Township, and Sinking Spring all of which are in Berks County, Pennsylvania. VIST Bank also operates a financial center in Schuylkill Haven, which is located in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. VIST Bank also operates financial centers in Blue Bell, Conshohocken, Oaks, Centre Square, Worcester and King of Prussia all of which are in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. VIST Bank expects to close the King of Prussia location by March 31, 2011. The Bank also operates financial centers in Fox Chase, Bala Cynwyd and Old City all of which are in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. The Bank also operates a financial center in Berwyn, which is in Chester County, Pennsylvania and another financial center in Strafford in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The Bank also operates limited service facilities in Wernersville and Flying Hills, both in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Most full service financial centers provide automated teller machine services, with the exception of the Bala Cynwyd and King of Prussia locations. Each financial center that provides an automated teller machine, with the exception of the Wernersville, Exeter, Old City, Worcester, Berwyn and Breezy Corner locations, provides drive-in facilities.

        VIST Bank engages in full service commercial and consumer banking business, including such services as accepting deposits in the form of time, demand and savings accounts. Such time deposits include certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts and Roth IRAs. The Bank' savings accounts include money market accounts, club accounts, NOW accounts and traditional regular savings accounts. In addition to accepting deposits, the Bank makes both secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans, provides equipment lease and accounts receivable financing and makes construction and mortgage loans, including home equity loans. The Bank does not engage in sub-prime lending. The Bank also provides small business loans and other services including rents for safe deposit facilities.

        At December 31, 2010, the Company and VIST Bank had the equivalent of 295 and 195 full-time employees, respectively.

Mortgage Banking

        VIST Bank provides mortgage banking services to its customers through VIST Mortgage, a division of the Bank. VIST Mortgage operates offices in Reading, Schuylkill Haven and Blue Bell, which are located in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, respectively. VIST Mortgage had 10 full-time employees at December 31, 2010.

Insurance

        VIST Insurance, LLC ("VIST Insurance"), a full service insurance agency, offers a full line of personal and commercial property and casualty insurance as well as group insurance for businesses, employee and group benefit plans, and life insurance. VIST Insurance is headquartered in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania with sales offices at 1240 Broadcasting Road, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania; 1767 Sentry Parkway West (Suite 210) Blue Bell, Pennsylvania; and 5 South Sunnybrook Road (Suite 100), Pottstown, Pennsylvania. VIST Insurance had 66 full-time employees at December 31, 2010.

3


Table of Contents

Wealth Management

        VIST Capital Management LLC, ("VIST Capital"), a full service investment advisory and brokerage services company, offers a full line of products and services for individual financial planning, retirement and estate planning, investments, corporate and small business pension and retirement planning. VIST Capital is headquartered at 1240 Broadcasting Road, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and had 4 full-time employees at December 31, 2010.

Equity Investments

        Health Savings Accounts —In July 2005, the Company purchased a 25% equity position in First HSA, LLC a national health savings account ("HSA") administrator. The investment formalized a relationship that existed since 2001. This relationship allowed the Company to be a custodian for HSA customers throughout the country. During the second quarter of 2010, the 25% equity interest in First HSA, LLC was sold, resulting in the transfer of approximately $89.0 million in HSA deposits and a recognized gain of $1.9 million.

Junior Subordinated Debt

        The Company owns First Leesport Capital Trust I (the "Trust"), a Delaware statutory business trust formed on March 9, 2000, in which the Company owns all of the common equity. The Trust has outstanding $5.0 million of 10.875% fixed rate mandatory redeemable capital securities. These securities must be redeemed in March 2030, but became callable on March 9, 2010. In October, 2002 the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement that effectively converts the securities to a floating interest rate of six month LIBOR plus 5.25%. In June, 2003 the Company purchased a six month LIBOR cap to create protection against rising interest rates for the interest rate swap. This interest rate cap matured in March 2010 and the payer exercised their call option to terminate the interest rate swap in September 2010.

        On September 26, 2002, the Company established Leesport Capital Trust II, a Delaware statutory business trust, in which the Company owns all of the common equity. Leesport Capital Trust II issued $10.0 million of mandatory redeemable capital securities carrying a floating interest rate of three month LIBOR plus 3.45%. These securities must be redeemed in September 2032, but became callable on November 7, 2007. In September 2008, the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement that effectively converts the $10.0 million of adjustable-rate capital securities to a fixed interest rate of 7.25%.

        On June 26, 2003, Madison established Madison Statutory Trust I, a Connecticut statutory business trust. Pursuant to the purchase of Madison on October 1, 2004, the Company assumed Madison Statutory Trust I in which the Company owns all of the common equity. Madison Statutory Trust I issued $5.0 million of mandatory redeemable capital securities carrying a floating interest rate of three month LIBOR plus 3.10%. These securities must be redeemed in June 2033, but became callable on June 26, 2008. In September 2008, the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement that effectively converts the $5.0 million of adjustable-rate capital securities to a fixed interest rate of 6.90%.

Competition

        The Company faces substantial competition in originating loans, in attracting deposits, and generating fee-based income. This competition comes principally from other banks, savings institutions, credit unions, mortgage banking companies and, with respect to deposits, institutions offering investment alternatives, including money market funds. Competition also comes from other insurance agencies and direct writing insurance companies. Due to the passage of landmark banking legislation in November 1999, competition may increasingly come from insurance companies, large securities firms and other financial services institutions. As a result of consolidation in the banking industry, some of

4


Table of Contents


the Company's competitors and their respective affiliates may enjoy advantages such as greater financial resources, a wider geographic presence, a wider array of services, or more favorable pricing alternatives and lower origination and operating costs.

Supervision and Regulation

General

        The Company is registered as a bank holding company, which has elected to be treated as a financial holding company, and is subject to supervision and regulation by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System under the Bank Holding Act of 1956, as amended. As a bank holding company, the Company's activities and those of its bank subsidiary are limited to the business of banking and activities closely related or incidental to banking. Bank holding companies are required to file periodic reports with and are subject to examination by the Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve Board has issued regulations under the Bank Holding Company Act that require a bank holding company to serve as a source of financial and managerial strength to its subsidiary banks. As a result, the Federal Reserve Board, pursuant to such regulations, may require the Company to stand ready to use its resources to provide adequate capital funds to its bank subsidiary during periods of financial stress or adversity.

        The Bank Holding Company Act prohibits the Company from acquiring direct or indirect control of more than 5% of the outstanding shares of any class of voting stock, or substantially all of the assets of any bank, or from merging or consolidating with another bank holding company, without prior approval of the Federal Reserve Board. Additionally, the Bank Holding Company Act prohibits the Company from engaging in or from acquiring ownership or control of more than 5% of the outstanding shares of any class of voting stock of any company engaged in a non-banking business, unless such business is determined by the Federal Reserve Board to be so closely related to banking as to be a proper incident thereto. The types of businesses that are permissible for bank holding companies to own were expanded by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999.

        As a Pennsylvania bank holding company for purposes of the Pennsylvania Banking Code, the Company is also subject to regulation and examination by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking.

        The Company is under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission and of state securities commissions for matters relating to the offering and sale of its securities. In addition, the Company is subject to the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and regulations relating to periodic reporting, proxy solicitation, and insider trading.

Regulation of VIST Bank

        The Bank is a Pennsylvania chartered commercial bank, and its deposits are insured (up to applicable limits) by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the "FDIC"). The Bank is subject to regulation and examination by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and by the FDIC. The Community Reinvestment Act requires the Bank to help meet the credit needs of the entire community where the Bank operates, including low and moderate income neighborhoods. The Bank's rating under the Community Reinvestment Act, assigned by the FDIC pursuant to an examination of the Bank, is important in determining whether the Bank may receive approval for, or utilize certain streamlined procedures in, applications to engage in new activities.

        The Bank is also subject to requirements and restrictions under federal and state law, including requirements to maintain reserves against deposits, restrictions on the types and amounts of loans that may be granted and the interest that may be charged thereon, and limitations on the types of investments that may be made and the types of services that may be offered. Various consumer laws and regulations also affect the operations of the Bank. In addition to the impact of regulation,

5


Table of Contents


commercial banks are affected significantly by the actions of the Federal Reserve Board as it attempts to control the money supply and credit availability in order to influence the economy.

Capital Adequacy Guidelines

        Bank regulatory authorities in the United States issue risk-based capital standards. These capital standards relate a bank's capital to the risk profile of its assets and provide the basis by which all banks are evaluated in terms of its capital adequacy. The Company and the Bank are subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by the federal banking agencies. Failure to meet the minimum capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on our consolidated financial statements. Under capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, The Company and the Bank must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of their assets, liabilities and certain off-balance sheet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. The capital amounts and classification are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, risk weightings and other factors.

        Quantitative measures established by regulation to ensure capital adequacy require the Company and the Bank to maintain minimum amounts and ratios of Tier 1 capital to average assets and of total capital (as defined in the regulations) to risk-weighted assets.

        As of December 31, 2010 and 2009, The Company and the Bank exceeded the current regulatory requirements to be considered a quantitatively "well capitalized" financial institution, i.e. a leverage ratio exceeding 5%, Tier 1 risk-based capital exceeding 6%, and total risk-based capital exceeding 10%.

Prompt Corrective Action Rules

        Immediately upon becoming undercapitalized, a depository institution becomes subject to the provisions of Section 38 of the FDIA, which: (a) restrict payment of capital distributions and management fees; (b) require that the appropriate federal banking agency monitor the condition of the institute on and its efforts to restore its capital; (c) require submission of a capital restoration plan; (d) restrict the growth of the institution's assets; and (e) require prior approval of certain expansion proposals. The appropriate federal banking agency for an undercapitalized institution also may take any number of discretionary supervisory actions if the agency determines that any of these actions is necessary to resolve the problems of the institution at the least possible long-term cost to the deposit insurance fund, subject in certain cases to specified procedures. These discretionary supervisory actions include: (a) requiring the institution to raise additional capital; (b) restricting transactions with affiliates; (c) requiring divestiture of the institution or the sale of the institution to a willing purchaser; and (d) any other supervisory action that the agency deems appropriate. These and additional mandatory and permissive supervisory actions may be taken with respect to significantly undercapitalized and critically undercapitalized institutions.

Basel III

        On December 17, 2009, the Basel Committee proposed significant changes to bank capital and liquidity regulation, including revisions to the definitions of Tier I Capital and Tier II Capital applicable to Basel III. On September 12, 2010, the oversight body of the Basel Committee announced a package of reforms which will increase existing capital requirements substantially over the next four years. These capital reforms were endorsed by the G20 at the summit held in Seoul, South Korea in November 2010.

        The short-term and long-term impact of the new Basel III capital standards and the forthcoming new capital rules to be proposed for non-Basel III U.S. banks is uncertain. As a result of the recent deterioration in the global credit markets and the potential impact of increased liquidity risk and

6


Table of Contents


interest rate risk, it is unclear what the short-term impact of the implementation of Basel III may be or what impact a pending alternative standardized approach to Basel III option for non-Basel III U.S. banks may have on the cost and availability of different types of credit and the potential compliance costs of implementing the new capital standards.

Regulatory Restrictions on Dividends

        Dividend payments made by the Bank to the Company are subject to the Pennsylvania Banking Code, the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, and the regulations of the FDIC. Under the Banking Code, no dividends may be paid except from "accumulated net earnings" (generally, retained earnings). The Federal Reserve Bank ("FRB") and the FDIC have formal and informal policies which provide that insured banks and bank holding companies should generally pay dividends only out of current operating earnings, with some exceptions. The Prompt Corrective Action Rules, described above, further limit the ability of banks to pay dividends if they are not classified as well capitalized or adequately capitalized. Under these policies and subject to the restrictions applicable to the Bank, the Bank had approximately $4.0 million available for payment of dividends to the Company at December 31, 2010, without prior regulatory approval. The issuance of the Series A Preferred Stock also carries certain restrictions with regards to the Company's declaration and payment of cash dividends on common stock.

        Dividends payable by the Company are subject to guidance published by the Board of Governors of the FRB. Consistent with the Federal Reserve guidance, companies are urged to strongly consider eliminating, deferring or significantly reducing dividends if (i) net income available to common shareholders for the past four quarters, net of dividends previously paid during that period, is not sufficient to fully fund the dividend, (ii) the prospective rate of earnings retention is not consistent with the bank holding company's capital needs and overall current and prospective financial condition, or (iii) the Company will not meet, or is in danger of not meeting, its minimum regulatory capital adequacy rations. As a result of this guidance, management intends to consult with the FRB of Philadelphia, and provide the FRB with information on the Company's then current and prospective earnings and capital position, on a quarterly basis in advance of declaring any cash dividends for the foreseeable future.

FDIC Insurance Assessments

        Recent insured institution failures, as well as deterioration in banking and economic conditions, have significantly increased FDIC loss provisions, resulting in a decline in the designated reserve ratio to historical lows. The FDIC expects a higher rate of insured institution failures in the next few years compared to recent years; thus, the reserve ratio may continue to decline. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or Dodd-Frank Act, that was enacted by Congress on July 15, 2010, and was signed into law by President Obama on July 21, 2010, enacted a number of changes to the federal deposit insurance regime that will affect the deposit insurance assessments the Bank will be obligated to pay in the future. For example:

    The law permanently raises the federal deposit insurance limit to $250,000 per account ownership. This change may have the effect of increasing losses to the FDIC insurance fund on future failures of other insured depository institutions.

    The new law makes deposit insurance coverage unlimited in amount for non-interest bearing transaction accounts until December 31, 2012. This change may also have the effect of increasing losses to the FDIC insurance fund on future failures of other insured depository institutions.

7


Table of Contents

    The FDIC is required under the Dodd-Frank Act to establish assessment rates that will allow the Deposit Insurance Fund to achieve a reserve ratio of 1.35% of Insurance Fund insured deposits by September 2020. In addition, the FDIC has established a "designated reserve ratio" of 2.0%, a target ratio that, until it is achieved, will not likely result in the FDIC reducing assessment rates. In attempting to achieve the mandated 1.35% ratio, the FDIC is required to implement assessment formulas that charge banks over $10 billion in asset size more than banks under that size. Those new formulas begin in the second quarter of 2011, but do not affect the Bank. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the FDIC is authorized to make reimbursements from the insurance fund to banks if the reserve ratio exceeds 1.50%, but the FDIC has adopted the "designated reserve ratio" of 2.0% and has announced that any reimbursements from the fund are indefinitely suspended.

        Each of these changes may increase the rate of FDIC insurance assessments to maintain or replenish the FDIC's deposit insurance fund. This could, in turn, raise the Bank's future deposit insurance assessment costs. On the other hand, the law changes the deposit insurance assessment base so that it will generally be equal to average consolidated assets less average tangible equity. As the asset base of the banking industry is larger than the deposit base, the range of assessment rates will change to a low of 2.5 basis points to a high of 45 basis points, per $100 of assets. This change of the assessment base from an emphasis on deposits to an emphasis on assets is generally considered likely to cause larger banking organizations to pay a disproportionately higher portion of future deposit insurance assessments, which may, correspondingly, lower the level of deposit insurance assessments that smaller community banks such as the Bank may otherwise have to pay in the future. While it is likely that the new law will increase the Bank's future deposit insurance assessment costs, the specific amount by which the new law's combined changes will affect the Bank's deposit insurance assessment costs is hard to predict, particularly because the new law gives the FDIC enhanced discretion to set assessment rate levels.

        On May 22, 2009, the FDIC adopted a final rule imposing a 5 basis point special assessment on each insured depository institution's assets minus Tier 1 capital as of June 30, 2009. The amount of the special assessment for any institution did not exceed 10 basis points times the institution's assessment base for the second quarter 2009. The assessment, in the amount of $574,000, was collected from the Bank on September 30, 2009.

        On November 12, 2009, the FDIC approved a rule to require insured institutions to prepay their estimated quarterly risk-based assessments for the fourth quarter of 2009, and for all of 2010, 2011, and 2012. An insured institution's risk-based deposit insurance assessments will continue to be calculated on a quarterly basis, but will be paid from the amount the institution prepaid until the later of the date that amount is exhausted or June 30, 2013, at which point any remaining funds would be returned to the insured institution. Consequently, the Company's prepayment of DIF premiums made in December 2009 resulted in a prepaid asset of $5.7 million. As of December 31, 2010, the amount of the prepaid asset was $4.0 million.

Federal Home Loan Bank System

        The Bank is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank ("FHLB"), of Pittsburgh, which is one of 12 regional FHLB's. Each FHLB serves as a reserve or central bank for its members within its assigned region. It is funded primarily from funds deposited by member institutions and proceeds from the sale of consolidated obligations of the FHLB system. It makes loans to members (i.e., advances) in accordance with policies and procedures established by the board of directors of the FHLB. At December 31, 2010, the Bank had no short-term FHLB advances outstanding and $10.0 million in long-term FHLB debt outstanding (see note 14 of the consolidated financial statements).

8


Table of Contents

        As a member, the Bank is required to purchase and maintain stock in the FHLB in an amount equal to the greater of 1% of its aggregate unpaid residential mortgage loans, home purchase contracts or similar obligations at the beginning of each year or 5% of its outstanding advances from the FHLB. On November 19, 2010, the Company acquired $1.7 million in FHLB stock as a result of the FDIC-assisted whole bank acquisition of Allegiance. At December 31, 2010, the Bank had $7.1 million in stock of the FHLB, which was in compliance with this requirement.

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and Related Programs

        The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 ("EESA") was enacted to enable the federal government, under terms and conditions developed primarily by the Secretary of the United States Department of Treasury ("Treasury"), to restore liquidity and stabilize the U.S. economy, including through implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program ("TARP"). Under the TARP, Treasury authorized a voluntary Capital Purchase Program ("CPP") to purchase up to $250.0 billion of senior preferred shares of qualifying financial institutions that elected to participate by November 14, 2008. As previously disclosed, on December 19, 2008, the Company issued to Treasury, 25,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and a warrant to purchase 367,982 shares of the Company's common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $25.0 million under the TARP CPP (see note 20 of the consolidated financial statements). Companies participating in the TARP CPP were required to adopt certain standards relating to executive compensation. The terms of the TARP CPP also limit certain uses of capital by the issuer, including with respect to repurchases of securities and increases in dividends.

        The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA") was intended to provide a stimulus to the U.S. economy in the wake of the economic downturn brought about by the subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting credit crunch. The bill includes federal tax cuts, expansion of unemployment benefits and other social welfare provisions, and domestic spending in education, healthcare, and infrastructure, including the energy structure. The new law also includes certain noneconomic recovery related items, including a limitation on executive compensation in federally aided financial institutions, including institutions, such as the Company, that had previously received an investment by Treasury under the TARP CPP. Under ARRA, an institution that either will receive funds or which had previously received funds under TARP, will be subject to certain restrictions and standards throughout the period in which any obligation arising under TARP remains outstanding (except for the time during which the federal government holds only warrants to purchase common stock of the issuer).

        The following summarizes the significant requirements of ARRA, which are included in standards established by the Treasury:

    limits on compensation incentives for risks by senior executive officers;

    a requirement for recovery of any compensation paid based on inaccurate financial information;

    a prohibition on "golden parachute payments" to specified officers or employees, which term is generally defined as any payment for departure from a company for any reason;

    a prohibition on compensation plans that would encourage manipulation of reported earnings to enhance the compensation of employees;

    a prohibition on bonus, retention award, or incentive compensation to designated employees, except in the form of long-term restricted stock;

    a requirement that the board of directors adopt a luxury expenditures policy;

    a requirement that shareholders be permitted a separate nonbinding vote on executive compensation;

9


Table of Contents

    a requirement that the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer provide a written certification of compliance with the standards, when established, to the SEC.

        Under ARRA, subject to consultation with the appropriate federal banking agency, Treasury is required to permit a recipient of TARP funds to repay any amounts previously provided to or invested in the recipient by Treasury without regard to whether the institution has replaced the funds from any other source or to any waiting period.

Recent Legislation

        The Dodd-Frank Act was enacted on July 21, 2010. This new law will significantly change the current bank regulatory structure and affect the lending, deposit, investment, trading and operating activities of financial institutions and their holding companies.

        The Dodd-Frank Act requires various federal agencies to adopt a broad range of new rules and regulations, and to prepare various studies and reports for Congress. The federal agencies are given significant discretion in drafting such rules and regulations, and consequently, many of the details and much of the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act may not be known for some time.

        Certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act are expected to have a near term impact on the Company. For example, effective July 21, 2011, a provision of the Dodd-Frank Act eliminates the federal prohibitions on paying interest on demand deposits, thus allowing businesses to have interest bearing checking accounts. Depending on competitive responses, this significant change to existing law could have an adverse impact on the Company's interest expense.

        The Dodd-Frank Act also broadens the base for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance assessments. Under the Act, the assessment base will no longer be an institution's deposit base, but rather its average consolidated total assets less its average tangible equity during the assessment period. The Dodd-Frank Act also permanently increases the maximum amount of deposit insurance for banks, savings institutions and credit unions to $250,000 per depositor, retroactive to January 1, 2008, and non-interest bearing transaction accounts have unlimited deposit insurance through December 31, 2013.

        Bank and thrift holding companies with assets of less than $15 billion as of December 31, 2009, such as the Company, will be permitted to include trust preferred securities that were issued before May 19, 2010, as Tier 1 capital; however, trust preferred securities issued by a bank or thrift holding company (other than those with assets of less than $500 million) after May 19, 2010, will no longer count as Tier 1 capital. Trust preferred securities still will be entitled to be treated as Tier 2 capital.

        The Dodd-Frank Act will require publicly traded companies to give stockholders a non-binding vote on executive compensation and so-called "golden parachute" arrangements, and may allow greater access by shareholders to the company's proxy material by authorizing the SEC to promulgate rules that would allow stockholders to nominate their own candidates using a company's proxy materials. The legislation also directs the Federal Reserve Board to promulgate rules prohibiting excessive compensation paid to bank holding company executives, regardless of whether the company is publicly traded.

        The Dodd-Frank Act creates a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with broad powers to supervise and enforce consumer protection laws. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has broad rule-making authority for a wide range of consumer protection laws that apply to all banks and savings institutions, including the authority to prohibit "unfair, deceptive or abusive" acts and practices. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has examination and enforcement authority over all banks and savings institutions with more than $10.0 billion in assets. Banks and savings institutions with $10.0 billion or less in assets such as the Bank will continue to be examined for compliance with the consumer laws by their primary bank regulators. The Dodd-Frank Act also weakens the federal

10


Table of Contents


preemption rules that have been applicable for national banks and federal savings associations, and gives state attorneys general the ability to enforce federal consumer protection laws.

        It is difficult to predict at this time the specific impact the Dodd-Frank Act and the yet to be written implementing rules and regulations will have on community banks. Given the uncertainty associated with the manner in which the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act will be implemented by the various regulatory agencies and through regulations, the full extent of the impact such requirements will have on financial institutions' operations is presently unclear. The changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act may impact the profitability of our business activities, require changes to certain of our business practices, impose upon us more stringent capital, liquidity and leverage ratio requirements or otherwise adversely affect our business. These changes may also require us to invest significant management attention and resources to evaluate and make necessary changes in order to comply with new statutory and regulatory requirements.

Other Legislation

        The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, passed in 1999, dramatically changed certain banking laws. One of the most significant changes was that the separation between banking and the securities businesses mandated by the Glass-Steagall Act has now been removed, and the provisions of any state law that prohibits affiliation between banking and insurance entities have been preempted. Accordingly, the legislation now permits firms engaged in underwriting and dealing in securities, and insurance companies, to own banking entities, and permits bank holding companies (and in some cases, banks) to own securities firms and insurance companies. The provisions of federal law that preclude banking entities from engaging in non-financially related activities, such as manufacturing, have not been changed. For example, a manufacturing company cannot own a bank and become a bank holding company, and a bank holding company cannot own a subsidiary that is not engaged in financial activities, as defined by the regulators.

        The legislation creates a new category of bank holding company called a "financial holding company." In order to avail itself of the expanded financial activities permitted under the law, a bank holding company must notify the Federal Reserve Board ("Federal Reserve") that it elects to be a financial holding company. A bank holding company can make this election if it, and all its bank subsidiaries, are well capitalized, well managed, and have at least a satisfactory Community Reinvestment Act rating, each in accordance with the definitions prescribed by the Federal Reserve and the regulators of the subsidiary banks. Once a bank holding company makes such an election, and provided that the Federal Reserve does not object to such election by such bank holding company, the financial holding company may engage in financial activities (i.e., securities underwriting, insurance underwriting, and certain other activities that are financial in nature as to be determined by the Federal Reserve) by simply giving a notice to the Federal Reserve within thirty days after beginning such business or acquiring a company engaged in such business. This makes the regulatory approval process to engage in financial activities much more streamlined than under prior law. On February 7, 2002, the Company's election with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to become a financial holding company became effective.

        The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was enacted to enhance penalties for accounting and auditing improprieties at publicly traded companies and to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures under the federal securities laws. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act generally applies to all companies, including the Company, that file or are required to file periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act. The legislation includes provisions, among other things, governing the services that can be provided by a public company's independent auditors and the procedures for approving such services, requiring the chief executive officer and chief financial officer to certify certain matters relating to the company's periodic filings under the Exchange Act, requiring expedited filings of reports

11


Table of Contents


by insiders of their securities transactions and containing other provisions relating to insider conflicts of interest, increasing disclosure requirements relating to critical financial accounting policies and their application, increasing penalties for securities law violations, and creating a new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB"), a regulatory body subject to the SEC jurisdiction with broad powers to set auditing, quality control and ethics standards for accounting firms. In connection with this legislation, the national securities exchanges and NASDAQ have adopted rules relating to certain matters, including the independence of members of a company's audit committee, as a condition to listing or continued listing. The Company does not believe that the application of these rules to the Company will have a material effect on its business, financial condition or results of operations.

        The USA PATRIOT Act, enacted in direct response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, strengthens the anti-money laundering provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act. Many of the new provisions added by the Act apply to accounts at or held by foreign banks, or accounts of or transactions with foreign entities. While the Bank does not have a significant foreign business, the new requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act still require the Bank to use proper procedures to identify its customers. The Act also requires the banking regulators to consider a bank's record of compliance under the Bank Secrecy Act in acting on any application filed by a bank. As the Bank is subject to the provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act (i.e., reporting of cash transactions in excess of $10,000), the Bank's record of compliance in this area will be an additional factor in any applications filed by it in the future. To the Bank's knowledge, its record of compliance in this area is satisfactory.

        The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act was adopted in 2003. It extends and expands upon provisions in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, affecting the reporting of delinquent payments by customers and denials of credit applications. The revised act imposes additional record keeping, reporting, and customer disclosure requirements on all financial institutions, including the Bank. Also in late 2003, the Check 21 Act was adopted. This Act affects the way checks can be processed in the banking system, allowing payments to be converted to electronic transfers rather than processed as traditional paper checks.

        VIST Insurance and VIST Capital are subject to additional regulatory requirements. VIST Insurance is subject to Pennsylvania insurance laws and the regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance. The securities brokerage activities of VIST Capital are subject to regulation by the SEC and the FINRA/SIPC, and VIST Capital is a registered investment advisor subject to regulation by the SEC.

        Congress is often considering some financial industry legislation, and the federal banking agencies routinely propose new regulations. The Company cannot predict how any new legislation, or new rules adopted by federal or state banking agencies, may affect the business of the Company and its subsidiaries in the future. Given that the financial industry remains under stress and severe scrutiny, and given that the U.S. economy has not yet fully recovered to pre-crisis levels of activity, the Company expects that there will be significant legislation and regulatory actions that may materially affect the banking industry for the foreseeable future.

Item 1A.    Risk Factors

Failure to comply with the terms of the loss sharing agreements with the FDIC may result in significant losses.

        On November 19, 2010, the Company entered into a Whole Bank Purchase and Assumption Agreement with the FDIC, pursuant to which the Company acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of Allegiance Bank of North America ("Allegiance"), headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. The Company also entered into loss sharing agreements with the FDIC. Under the loss sharing agreements, the Company will share in the losses on assets covered under the Purchase and Assumption Agreement. Under the terms of the loss sharing agreements, the FDIC will reimburse the

12


Table of Contents


Bank for 70 percent of net losses on covered assets incurred up to $12.0 million, and 80 percent of net losses exceeding $12.0 million. The term for loss sharing on residential real estate loans is ten years, while the term for loss sharing on non-residential real estate loans is five years in respect to losses and eight years in respect to loss recoveries.

        The Purchase and Assumption Agreement and their respective loss sharing agreements have specific, detailed and cumbersome compliance, servicing, notification and reporting requirements, including certain restrictions on our change of control. The loss sharing agreements prohibit the assignment by the Company of its rights under the loss sharing agreements and the sale or transfer of any subsidiary of the Company holding title to assets covered under the loss sharing agreements without the prior written consent of the FDIC. An assignment would include (i) the merger or consolidation of the Company with or into another bank, if we will own less than 66.66% of the equity of the resulting bank; (ii) our merger or consolidation with or into another company, if our shareholders will own less than 66.66% of the equity of the resulting company; (iii) the sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company to another company or person; or (iv) a sale of shares by any one or more shareholders of the Company that would effect a change in control of the Company. The Company's rights under the loss sharing agreements will terminate if any assignment of the loss sharing agreements occurs without the prior written consent of the FDIC.

        Our failure to comply with the terms of the agreements or to properly service the loans and OREO under the requirements of the loss sharing agreements may cause individual loans or large pools of loans to lose eligibility for loss share payments from the FDIC. This could result in material losses that are currently not anticipated.

Difficult market conditions and economic trends have adversely affected our industry and our business.

        We are particularly affected by downturns in the U. S. housing market. Dramatic declines in the housing market over the past year, with decreasing home prices and increasing delinquencies and foreclosures, may have a negative impact on the credit performance of mortgage, consumer, commercial and construction loan portfolios resulting in significant write-downs of assets by many financial institutions. In addition, the values of real estate collateral supporting many loans have declined and may continue to decline. General downward economic trends, reduced availability of commercial credit and increasing unemployment may negatively impact the credit performance of commercial and consumer credit, resulting in additional write-downs. Concerns over the stability of the financial markets and the economy have resulted in decreased lending by financial institutions to their customers and to each other. This market turmoil and tightening of credit has led to increased commercial and consumer deficiencies, lack of customer confidence, increased market volatility and widespread reduction in general business activity. Competition among depository institutions for deposits has increased significantly. Financial institutions have experienced decreased access to deposits or borrowings. The resulting economic pressure on consumers and businesses and the lack of confidence in the financial markets may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and stock price. We do not expect that the difficult market conditions will improve in the near future. A worsening of these conditions would likely exacerbate the adverse effects of these difficult market conditions on us and others in the industry. In particular, we may face the following risks in connection with these events:

    We expect to face increased regulation of our industry. Compliance with such regulation may increase our costs and limit our ability to pursue business opportunities.

    Our ability to assess the creditworthiness of customers and to estimate the losses inherent in our credit exposure is made more complex by these difficult market and economic conditions.

13


Table of Contents

    We also may be required to pay higher FDIC premiums, because financial institution failures resulting from the depressed market conditions have depleted and may continue to deplete the deposit insurance fund and reduce its ratio of reserves to insured deposits.

    Our ability to borrow from other financial institutions or the FHLB on favorable terms or at all could be adversely affected by further disruptions in the capital markets or other events.

    We may experience a prolonged decrease in dividend income from our investment in FHLB stock.

    We may experience increases in foreclosures, delinquencies and customer bankruptcies, as well as more restricted access to funds.

Current levels of market volatility are unprecedented.

        The capital and credit markets have been experiencing volatility and disruption for more than a year. In recent months, the volatility and disruption has reached unprecedented levels. In some cases, the markets have produced downward pressure on stock prices and credit availability for certain issuers without regard to those issuers' underlying financial strength. If current levels of market disruption and volatility continue or worsen, there can be no assurance that we will not experience an adverse effect, which may be material, on our ability to access capital and on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The market value of our securities portfolio may continue to be impacted by the level of interest rates and the credit quality and strength of the underlying issuers.

        If a decline in market value of a security is determined to be other than temporary, under generally accepted accounting principles, we are required to write these securities down to their estimated fair value. As of December 31, 2010, we owned single issuer and pooled trust preferred securities and private label collateralized mortgage obligations whose aggregate historical cost basis is greater than their estimated fair value (see note 8 of the consolidated financial statements). We have reviewed these securities and, with the exception of those securities which we identified as other-than-temporarily impaired, we have determined that the decreases in estimated fair value are temporary. We perform an ongoing analysis of these securities utilizing both readily available market data and third party analytical models. Future changes in interest rates or the credit quality and strength of the underlying issuers may reduce the market value of these and other securities. If such decline is determined to be other than temporary, we will write them down through a charge to earnings to their then current fair value.

        The Bank is a member of the FHLB and is required to purchase and maintain stock in the FHLB in an amount equal to the greater of 1% of its aggregate unpaid residential mortgage loans, home purchase contracts or similar obligations at the beginning of each year or 5% of its outstanding advances from the FHLB. As a result of the FDIC-assisted whole bank acquisition of Allegiance on November 19, 2010, the bank acquired $1.7 million in FHLB stock. At December 31, 2010, the Bank had $7.1 million in stock of the FHLB which was in compliance with this requirement. These equity securities are "restricted" in that they can only be sold back to the respective institutions or another member institution at par. Therefore, they are less liquid than other tradable equity securities, their fair value is equal to amortized cost, and no impairment write-downs have been recorded on these securities during 2010, 2009, or 2008.

        The FHLB announced in December 2008 that it voluntarily suspended the payment of dividends and the repurchase of excess capital stock from member banks. The FHLB cited a significant reduction in the level of core earnings resulting from lower short-term interest rates, the increased cost of maintaining liquidity and constrained access to the debt markets at attractive rates and maturities as

14


Table of Contents


the main reasons for the decision to suspend dividends and the repurchase excess capital stock. The FHLB last paid a dividend in the third quarter of 2008. In the fourth quarter of 2010, as a result of improved core earnings and a decrease in OTTI charges on non-agency investment securities, the FHLB repurchased stock totaling $283,000 from the Bank. Accounting guidance indicates that an investor in FHLB capital stock should recognize impairment if it concludes that it is not probable that it will ultimately recover the par value of its shares. The decision of whether impairment exists is a matter of judgment that should reflect the investor's view of the FHLB's long-term performance, which includes factors such as its operating performance, the severity and duration of declines in the market value of its net assets related to its capital stock amount, its commitment to make payments required by law or regulation and the level of such payments in relation to its operating performance, the impact of legislation and regulatory changes on FHLB, and accordingly, on the members of FHLB and its liquidity and funding position. After evaluating all of these considerations and in light of the fourth quarter FHLB stock repurchase, the Company believes the par value of its shares will be recovered. Future evaluations of the above mentioned factors could result in the Company recognizing an impairment charge.

Changes in interest rates could reduce our income, cash flows and asset values.

        Our income and cash flows and the value of our assets depend to a great extent on the difference between the interest rates we earn on interest-earning assets, such as loans and investment securities, and the interest rates we pay on interest-bearing liabilities such as deposits and borrowings. These rates are highly sensitive to many factors which are beyond our control, including general economic conditions and policies of various governmental and regulatory agencies and, in particular, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Changes in monetary policy, including changes in interest rates, will influence not only the interest we receive on our loans and investment securities and the amount of interest we pay on deposits and borrowings but will also affect our ability to originate loans and obtain deposits and the value of our investment portfolio. If the rate of interest we pay on our deposits and other borrowings increases more or decreases less than the rate of interest we earn on our loans and other investments, our net interest income, and therefore our earnings, could be adversely affected. Our earnings also could be adversely affected if the rates on our loans and other investments fall more quickly than those on our deposits and other borrowings.

Our financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected if our allowance for loan losses is not sufficient to absorb actual losses or if we are required to increase our allowance.

        Despite our underwriting criteria, we may experience loan delinquencies and losses. In order to absorb losses associated with nonperforming loans, we maintain an allowance for loan losses based on, among other things, historical experience, an evaluation of economic conditions, and regular reviews of delinquencies and loan portfolio quality. Determination of the allowance inherently involves a high degree of subjectivity and requires us to make significant estimates of current credit risks and future trends, all of which may undergo material changes. At any time there are likely to be loans in our portfolio that will result in losses but that have not been identified as nonperforming or potential problem credits. We cannot be sure that we will be able to identify deteriorating credits before they become nonperforming assets or that we will be able to limit losses on those loans that are identified. We may be required to increase our allowance for loan losses for any of several reasons. State and federal regulators, in reviewing our loan portfolio as part of a regulatory examination, may request that we increase our allowance for loan losses. Changes in economic conditions affecting borrowers, new information regarding existing loans, identification of additional problem loans and other factors, both within and outside of our control, may require an increase in our allowance. In addition, if charge-offs in future periods exceed our allowance for loan losses, we will need additional increases in our allowance for loan losses. Any increases in our allowance for loan losses will result in a decrease in our net income and, possibly, our capital, and may materially affect our results of operations in the period in which the allowance is increased.

15


Table of Contents

Recently enacted legislation, legislation enacted in the future, and government programs could subject us to increased regulation and may adversely affect us.

        The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 ("EESA") provided the U.S. Treasury authority to, among other things, invest in financial institutions for the purpose of stabilizing and providing liquidity to the U.S. financial markets. Pursuant to this authority, the U.S. Treasury announced its CPP, under which it purchased preferred stock and warrants in eligible institutions, including the Company, to increase the flow of credit to businesses and consumers and to support the economy. In accordance with the terms of the CPP, the Company issued to the U.S. Treasury 25,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and a stock purchase warrant to purchase 367,982 shares of the Company's common stock at $10.19 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $25 million.

        Participation in the CPP subjects the Company to increased oversight by the U.S. Treasury, regulators and Congress. On February 17, 2009, EESA was amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA"). EESA, the ARRA and the rules issued under these acts contain executive compensation restrictions and corporate governance standards that apply to all CPP participants, including the Company. For example, participation in the CPP imposes restrictions on the Company's ability to pay cash dividends on or repurchase the Company's common stock. With regard to increased oversight, Treasury has the power to unilaterally amend the terms of the CPP purchase agreement to the extent required to comply with changes in applicable federal law and to inspect the Company's corporate books and records through its federal banking regulator. In addition, Treasury has the right to appoint two persons to the Company's board of directors if the Company misses dividend payments for six dividend periods, whether or not consecutive, on the preferred stock. EESA, the ARRA and the related rules subject the Company to substantial restrictions on executive compensation that could adversely affect the Company's ability to attract, motivate, and retain key executives and other key personnel. The ultimate impact that EESA, the ARRA and their implementing regulations, or any other legislation or governmental program, will have on the financial markets is unknown at this time. The failure of the financial markets to stabilize and a continuation or worsening of current financial market conditions could materially and adversely affect the Company's business, results of operations, financial condition, access to funding and the trading price of the Company's common stock.

        Other recent legislation and proposals could also affect us, the Dodd-Frank Act provides for the creation of a consumer protection division at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System that will have broad authority to issue regulations governing the services and products we provide consumers. This additional regulation could increase our compliance costs and otherwise adversely impact our operations. That legislation also contains provisions that, over time, could result in higher regulatory capital requirements and loan loss provisions for the Bank, and may increase interest expense due to the ability in July 2011 to pay interest on all demand deposits. In addition, there have been proposals made by members of Congress and others that would reduce the amount delinquent borrowers are otherwise contractually obligated to pay under their mortgage loans and limit an institution's ability to foreclose on mortgage collateral. These proposals could result in credit losses or increased expense in pursuing our remedies as a creditor. Recent regulatory changes impose limits on our ability to charge overdraft fees, which may decrease our non-interest income as compared to more recent prior periods.

        The potential exists for additional federal or state laws and regulations, or changes in policy, affecting many aspects of our operations, including capital levels, lending and funding practices, and liquidity standards. New laws and regulations may increase our costs of regulatory compliance and of doing business and otherwise affect our operations, and may significantly affect the markets in which we do business, the markets for and value of our loans and investments, the fees we can charge and our ongoing operations, costs and profitability.

16


Table of Contents

The Company may be required to pay significantly higher FDIC premiums or special assessments that could adversely affect earnings.

        Recent insured institution failures, as well as deterioration in banking and economic conditions, have significantly increased FDIC loss provisions, resulting in a decline in the designated reserve ratio to historical lows. The FDIC expects a higher rate of insured institution failures in the next few years compared to recent years; thus, the reserve ratio may continue to decline. The Dodd-Frank Act enacted a number of changes to the federal deposit insurance regime that will affect the deposit insurance assessments the Bank will be obligated to pay in the future. For example:

    The law permanently raises the federal deposit insurance limit to $250,000 per account ownership. This change may have the effect of increasing losses to the FDIC insurance fund on future failures of other insured depository institutions.

    The new law makes deposit insurance coverage unlimited in amount for non-interest bearing transaction accounts until December 31, 2012. This change may also have the effect of increasing losses to the FDIC insurance fund on future failures of other insured depository institutions.

    The law increases the insurance fund's minimum designated reserve ratio from 1.15 to 1.35, and removes the current 1.50 cap on the reserve ratio. The law gives the FDIC discretion to suspend or limit the declaration or payment of dividends even when the reserve ratio exceeds the minimum designated reserve ratio.

        Each of these changes may increase the rate of FDIC insurance assessments to maintain or replenish the FDIC's deposit insurance fund. This could, in turn, raise the Bank's future deposit insurance assessment costs. On the other hand, the law changes the deposit insurance assessment base so that it will generally be equal to average consolidated assets less average tangible equity. This change of the assessment base from an emphasis on deposits to an emphasis on assets is generally considered likely to cause larger banking organizations to pay a disproportionately higher portion of future deposit insurance assessments, which may, correspondingly, lower the level of deposit insurance assessments that smaller community banks such as the Bank may otherwise have to pay in the future. While it is likely that the new law will increase the Bank's future deposit insurance assessment costs, the specific amount by which the new law's combined changes will affect the Bank's deposit insurance assessment costs is hard to predict, particularly because the new law gives the FDIC enhanced discretion to set assessment rate levels.

Competition may decrease our growth or profits.

        We face substantial competition in all phases of our operations from a variety of different competitors, including commercial banks, savings and loan associations, mutual savings banks, credit unions, consumer finance companies, factoring companies, leasing companies, insurance companies and money market mutual funds. There is very strong competition among financial services providers in our principal service area. Our competitors may have greater resources, higher lending limits or larger branch systems than we do. Accordingly, they may be able to offer a broader range of products and services as well as better pricing for those products and services than we can.

        In addition, some of the financial services organizations with which we compete are not subject to the same degree of regulation as is imposed on federally insured financial institutions. As a result, those non-bank competitors may be able to access funding and provide various services more easily or at less cost than we can, adversely affecting our ability to compete effectively.

We may be adversely affected by government regulation.

        The banking industry is heavily regulated. Banking regulations are primarily intended to protect the federal deposit insurance funds and depositors, not shareholders. Changes in the laws, regulations,

17


Table of Contents


and regulatory practices affecting the banking industry may increase our costs of doing business or otherwise adversely affect us and create competitive advantages for others. Regulations affecting banks and financial services companies undergo continuous change, and we cannot predict the ultimate effect of these changes, which could have a material adverse effect on our profitability or financial condition.

We rely on our management and other key personnel, and the loss of any of them may adversely affect our operations.

        We are and will continue to be dependent upon the services of our executive management team. In addition, we will continue to depend on our ability to retain and recruit key commercial loan officers. The unexpected loss of services of any key management personnel or commercial loan officers could have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition because of their skills, knowledge of our market, years of industry experience and the difficulty of promptly finding qualified replacement personnel.

Environmental liability associated with lending activities could result in losses.

        In the course of our business, we may foreclose on and take title to properties securing our loans. If hazardous substances were discovered on any of these properties, we could be liable to governmental entities or third parties for the costs of remediation of the hazard, as well as for personal injury and property damage. Many environmental laws can impose liability regardless of whether we knew of, or were responsible for, the contamination. In addition, if we arrange for the disposal of hazardous or toxic substances at another site, we may be liable for the costs of cleaning up and removing those substances from the site even if we neither own nor operate the disposal site. Environmental laws may require us to incur substantial expenses and may materially limit use of properties we acquire through foreclosure, reduce their value or limit our ability to sell them in the event of a default on the loans they secure. In addition, future laws or more stringent interpretations or enforcement policies with respect to existing laws may increase our exposure to environmental liability.

Failure to implement new technologies in our operations may adversely affect our growth or profits.

        The market for financial services, including banking services and consumer finance services, is increasingly affected by advances in technology, including developments in telecommunications, data processing, computers, automation, internet-based banking and tele-banking. Our ability to compete successfully in our markets may depend on the extent to which we are able to exploit such technological changes. However, we can provide no assurance that we will be able to properly or timely anticipate or implement such technologies or properly train our staff to use such technologies. Any failure to adapt to new technologies could adversely affect our business, financial condition or operating results.

An investment in our common stock is not an insured deposit.

        Our common stock is not a bank deposit and, therefore, is not insured against loss by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, commonly referred to as the FDIC, any other deposit insurance fund or by any other public or private entity. Investment in our common stock is subject to the same market forces that affect the price of common stock in any company.

Our ability to pay dividends is limited by law and federal banking regulation.

        Our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders may depend on our receipt of dividends from the Bank. The amount of dividends that the Bank may pay to us is limited by federal laws and regulations. We also may decide to limit the payment of dividends even when we have the legal ability to pay them in order to retain earnings for use in our business.

18


Table of Contents

        Dividends payable by the Company are subject to guidance published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Consistent with the Federal Reserve guidance, companies are urged to strongly consider eliminating, deferring or significantly reducing dividends if (i) net income available to common shareholders for the past four quarters, net of dividends previously paid during that period, is not sufficient to fully fund the dividend, (ii) the prospective rate of earnings retention is not consistent with the bank holding company's capital needs and overall current and prospective financial condition, or (iii) the company will not meet, or is in danger of not meeting, its minimum regulatory capital adequacy rations. As a result of this guidance, management consults with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and provides the Reserve Bank with information on the Company's then current and prospective earnings and capital position, on a quarterly basis in advance of declaring any cash dividends for the foreseeable future.

        In addition, under the terms of the TARP CPP, the Company cannot increase its common stock dividend from the last quarterly dividend per share declared on its common stock prior to October 14, 2008 ($0.10) without the consent of Treasury until the third anniversary date of the issuance of the Series A Preferred Stock (December 19, 2011).

Federal and state banking laws, our articles of incorporation and our by-laws may have an anti-takeover effect.

        Federal law imposes restrictions, including regulatory approval requirements, on persons seeking to acquire control over the Company. Pennsylvania law also has provisions that may have an anti-takeover effect. In addition, the Company's articles of incorporation and bylaws permit our board of directors to issue, without shareholder approval, preferred stock and additional shares of common stock that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of existing common shareholders. These provisions may serve to entrench management or discourage a takeover attempt that shareholders consider to be in their best interest or in which they would receive a substantial premium over the current market price.

We plan to continue to grow and there are risks associated with continued growth.

        We intend to continue to expand our business and operations to increase deposits and loans. Continued growth may present operating and other problems that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our growth may place a strain on our administrative and operational, personnel, and financial resources and increase demands on our systems and controls. Our ability to manage growth successfully will depend on our ability to attract qualified personnel and maintain cost controls and asset quality while attracting additional loans and deposits on favorable terms, as well as on factors beyond our control, such as economic conditions and interest rate trends. If we grow too quickly and are not able to attract qualified personnel, control costs and maintain asset quality, this continued rapid growth could materially adversely affect our financial performance.

Our legal lending limits are relatively low and restrict our ability to compete for larger customers.

        At December 31, 2010, our lending limit per borrower was approximately $16.0 million, or approximately 12% of our capital. Accordingly, the size of loans that we can offer to potential borrowers (without participation by other lenders) is less than the size of loans that many of our competitors with larger capitalization are able to offer. Our legal lending limit also impacts the efficiency of our lending operation because it tends to lower our average loan size, which means we have to generate a higher number of transactions to achieve the same portfolio volume. We may engage in loan participations with other banks for loans in excess of our legal lending limits. However, there can be no assurance that such participations will be available at all or on terms which are favorable to us and to our customers.

19


Table of Contents


If we are unable to identify and acquire other financial institutions and successfully integrate their acquired businesses, our business and earnings may be negatively affected.

        Acquisition of other financial institutions is a component of our growth strategy. The market for acquisitions remains highly competitive, and we may be unable to find acquisition candidates in the future that fit our acquisition and growth strategy.

        Acquisitions of financial institutions involve operational risks and uncertainties, and acquired companies may have unforeseen liabilities, exposure to asset quality problems, key employee and customer retention problems and other problems that could negatively affect our organization. We may not be able to complete future acquisitions and, if completed, we may not be able to successfully integrate the operations, management, products and services of the entities that we acquire and eliminate redundancies. The integration process may also require significant time and attention from our management that they would otherwise direct at servicing existing business and developing new business. Our failure to successfully integrate the entities we acquire into our existing operations may increase our operating costs significantly and adversely affect our business and earnings.

The market price for our common stock may be volatile.

        The market price for our common stock has fluctuated, ranging between $5.22 and $10.20 per share during the 12 months ended December 31, 2010. The overall market and the price of our common stock may continue to be volatile. There may be a significant impact on the market price for our common stock due to, among other things, developments in our business, variations in our anticipated or actual operating results, changes in investors' or analysts' perceptions of the risks and conditions of our business and the size of the public float of our common stock. The average daily trading volume for our common stock as reported on NASDAQ was 7,252 shares during the twelve months ended December 31, 2010, with daily volume ranging from a low of 100 shares to a high of 64,113 shares. There can be no assurance that a more active or consistent trading market in our common stock will develop. As a result, relatively small trades could have a significant impact on the price of our common stock.

Market conditions may adversely affect our fee based insurance and investment business.

        The revenues of our fee based insurance business are derived primarily from commissions from the sale of insurance policies, which commissions are generally calculated as a percentage of the policy premium. These insurance policy commissions can fluctuate as insurance carriers from time to time increase or decrease the premiums on the insurance products we sell. Similarly, we receive fee based revenues from commissions from the sale of securities and investment advisory fees. In the event of decreased stock market activity, the volume of trading facilitated by VIST Capital Management, LLC will in all likelihood decrease resulting in decreased commission revenue on purchases and sales of securities. In addition, investment advisory fees, which are generally based on a percentage of the total value of an investment portfolio, will decrease in the event of decreases in the values of the investment portfolios, for example, as a result of overall market declines.

Item 1B.    Unresolved Staff Comments

    None

20


Table of Contents

Item 2.    Properties

        The Company's executive office is located in the administration building at 1240 Broadcasting Road, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Listed below are the locations of properties owned or leased by the Company and its subsidiaries. Owned properties are not subject to any mortgage, lien or encumbrance.

Property Location
  Leased or Owned

Corporate Office
1240 Broadcasting Road
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania

  Leased

Operations Center
1044 MacArthur Road
Reading, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

North Pointe Financial Center
241 South Centre Avenue
Leesport, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Northeast Reading Financial Center
1210 Rockland Street
Reading, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Hamburg Financial Center
801 South Fourth Street
Hamburg, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Bern Township Financial Center
909 West Leesport Road
Leesport, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Wernersville Financial Center
1 Reading Drive
Wernersville, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Breezy Corner Financial Center
3401-3 Pricetown Road
Fleetwood, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Blandon Financial Center
100 Plaza Drive
Blandon, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Wyomissing Financial Center
1199 Berkshire Boulevard
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Schuylkill Haven Financial Center
237 Route 61 South
Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Birdsboro Financial Center
350 West Main Street
Birdsboro, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

21


Table of Contents

Property Location
  Leased or Owned

Exeter Financial Center
4361 Perkiomen Avenue
Reading, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Sinking Spring Financial Center
4708 Penn Ave
Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Heritage Financial Center
200 Tranquility Lane
Reading, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Blue Bell Financial Center
The VIST Financial Building
1767 Sentry Parkway West
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Centre Square Financial Center
1380 Skippack Pike
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Conshohocken Financial Center
Plymouth Corporate Center
Suite 600
625 Ridge Pike
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Fox Chase Financial Center
8000 Verree Road
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

Owned

Oaks Financial Center
1232 Egypt Road
Oaks, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Strafford Financial Center
600 West Lancaster Avenue
Strafford, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Bala Cynwyd Financial Center(2)
Suite 105
One Belmont Avenue
Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Old City Financial Center(2)
36 North Third Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

King of Prussia Financial Center(1)
190 East DeKalb Pike
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

Worcester Financial Center(2)
2946 Skippack Pike
Worcester, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

22


Table of Contents

Property Location
  Leased or Owned

Berwyn Financial Center(2)
564 Lancaster Avenue
Berwyn, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

VIST Insurance
1767 Sentry Parkway, Suite 210
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

VIST Insurance
5 South Sunnybrook Road
Pottstown, Pennsylvania

 

Leased

VIST Bank (Mortgage Banking Office)
2213 Quarry Drive
West Lawn, Pennsylvania

 

Leased


(1)
The Company expects to close its King of Prussia Financial Center acquired in the Allegiance acquisition by March 31, 2011.

(2)
Per the Purchase and Assumption Agreement with the FDIC, the leases associated with the branches acquired in the Allegiance acquisition are in the process of being renegotiated with a lease term not to exceed three years.

        VIST Insurance shares offices in the Company's administration building located at 1240 Broadcasting Road, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. VIST Insurance is charged a pro rata amount of the total lease expense.

        VIST Capital also shares office space in the Company's administration building in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, as well as in VIST Insurance's office located in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and are charged accordingly a pro rata amount of the total lease expense.

Item 3.    Legal Proceedings

        A certain amount of litigation arises in the ordinary course of the business of the Company, and the Company's subsidiaries. In the opinion of the management of the Company, there are no proceedings pending to which the Company, or the Company's subsidiaries are a party or to which their property is subject, that, if determined adversely to the Company or its subsidiaries, would be material in relation to the Company's shareholders' equity or financial condition, nor are there any proceedings pending other than ordinary routine litigation incident to the business of the Company and its subsidiaries. In addition, no material proceedings are pending or are known to be threatened or contemplated against the Company or its subsidiaries by governmental authorities.

Item 4.    [Removed and Reserved]

23


Table of Contents

Item 4A.    Executive Officers of the Registrant

        Certain information, as of December 31, 2010, including principal occupation during the past five years, relating to each executive officer of the Company is as follows:

Name, Address, and Position Held with the Company
  Age   Position
Held
Since
  Principal Occupation for Past 5 Years

ROBERT D. DAVIS
Chester Springs, Pennsylvania
President and Chief Executive Officer

    63     2005   President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and the Bank since September 2005; Chairman of VIST Insurance, LLC; Chairman of VIST Capital Management, LLC; prior thereto, President and Chief Executive Officer and Director of Republic First Bank since 1999.

EDWARD C. BARRETT
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

   
62
   
2002
 

Executive Vice President since October 2003 and Chief Financial Officer of the Company since September 2004; prior thereto, Chief Administrative Officer since July 2002.

LOUIS J. DECESARE, JR.
Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of VIST Bank

   
51
   
2008
 

Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of VIST Bank since September 2008. Prior thereto, President of Republic First Bank since January 2007. Prior thereto, Chief Lending Officer of Republic First Bank since January 2005.

NEENA M. MILLER
Reading, Pennsylvania
Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of VIST Bank

   
46
   
2008
 

Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of VIST Bank since 2008: prior thereto, Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of Republic First Bank since 2005; prior thereto, Senior Credit Officer of Republic First Bank since 2004.

CHRISTINA S. McDONALD
Oreland, Pennsylvania
Executive Vice President and Chief Retail Banking Officer of VIST Bank

   
45
   
2004
 

Executive Vice President and Chief Retail Banking Officer of VIST Bank since 2002.

JENETTE L. ECK
Centerport, Pennsylvania
Senior Vice President and Corporate Secretary

   
48
   
1998
 

Senior Vice President and Secretary of the Company since 2001.

MICHAEL C. HERR
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania
Chief Operating Officer

   
45
   
2009
 

Chief Operating Officer of VIST Insurance, LLC since 2009; prior thereto, Senior Vice President of VIST Insurance, LLC since 2004.

24


Table of Contents


PART II

Item 5.    Market For Registrant's Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Performance Graph

        Set forth below is a graph and table comparing the yearly percentage change in the cumulative total shareholder return on the Company's common stock against the cumulative total return on the NASDAQ-Total US Index, and the SNL Mid-Atlantic Bank Index for the five-year period commencing December 31, 2005, and ending December 31, 2010.

        Cumulative total return on the Company's common stock, the NASDAQ Combination Bank Index, and the SNL Mid-Atlantic Bank Index equals the total increase in value since December 31, 2005, assuming reinvestment of all dividends. The graph and table were prepared assuming that $100 was invested on December 31, 2005, in Company common stock, the NASDAQ-Total US Index, and the SNL Mid-Atlantic Bank Index.


VIST Financial Corp.

GRAPHIC

 
  Period Ending  
Index
  12/31/05   12/31/06   12/31/07   12/31/08   12/31/09   12/31/10  

VIST Financial Corp. 

    100.00     107.88     87.97     39.42     27.90     39.08  

NASDAQ Composite

    100.00     110.39     122.15     73.32     106.57     125.91  

SNL Mid-Atlantic Bank

    100.00     120.02     90.76     50.00     52.63     61.40  

25


Table of Contents