Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. (Financial) operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the James that provides various banking products and services.
The company conducts three principal activities: general retail and commercial banking through Bank of the James; mortgage brokerage services through Bank of the James Mortgage, a division of the bank (the Mortgage Division); and investment advisory (sometimes referred to as wealth management) services through its wholly-owned subsid...
Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. (Financial) operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the James that provides various banking products and services.
The company conducts three principal activities: general retail and commercial banking through Bank of the James; mortgage brokerage services through Bank of the James Mortgage, a division of the bank (the Mortgage Division); and investment advisory (sometimes referred to as wealth management) services through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pettyjohn, Wood & White, Inc. (PWW).
In addition, the company provides securities brokerage and other investment services through BOTJ Investment, a division of the bank, and acts as an agent for insurance and annuity products through BOTJ Insurance, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the bank.
The bank, BOTJ Insurance, BOTJ Investment Group, Inc., a non-operating subsidiary, and PWW are the company’s only subsidiaries and primary assets.
Products and Services
Retail and Commercial Banking
The bank conducts business within Virginia from full-service offices, limited service offices, and residential mortgage loan production office. The bank established a mortgage loan origination division that conducts business under the name Bank of the James Mortgage, a Division of Bank of the James (the Mortgage Division). The Mortgage Division conducts business primarily from the division’s main office located in the Forest branch of the bank and has opened several satellite offices throughout its market area.
Deposit Services
Deposits are a major source of the company’s funding. The bank offers a full range of deposit services that are typically available in most banks and other financial institutions, including checking accounts, savings accounts and other time deposits of various types, ranging from daily money market accounts to longer-term certificates of deposit. The transaction accounts and time certificates are tailored to the bank’s market areas at rates competitive to those offered by other financial institutions in that market area. In addition, the bank offers its customers Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and Health Care Savings Accounts (HSAs). All deposit accounts are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the FDIC) up to the maximum amount allowed by law (generally, $250,000 per depositor, subject to aggregation rules). The bank solicits such accounts from individuals, businesses, associations and organizations, and governmental authorities.
Lending Services
The bank offers a full range of short- to medium-term commercial and consumer loans. The company’s primary focus is on making loans to small and medium-sized businesses and consumers in the Region 2000 (Lynchburg, Amherst, Bedford, Campbell) area, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Roanoke, Appomattox, and Blacksburg. In addition, the company provides a wide range of real estate finance services. Commercial loans include both secured and unsecured loans for working capital (including inventory and receivables), business expansion (including acquisition of real estate and improvements), and purchase of equipment and machinery. Consumer loans include secured and unsecured loans for financing automobiles, home improvements, education and personal investments. Additionally, the Bank originates fixed and floating-rate mortgage loans and real estate construction and acquisition loans.
In general, the bank offers the following lending services in our market areas:
Commercial Business Lending: The company makes loans to small- and medium-sized businesses for purposes such as purchases of equipment, facilities upgrades, inventory acquisition and various working capital purposes.
Real Estate Construction: The company makes commercial and residential construction and development loans.
Commercial Real Estate Mortgage: The company makes loans to borrowers secured by commercial real estate.
Residential Mortgage: The company originates conforming and non-conforming closed-end residential mortgages. These loans are secured by liens on 1 to 4 family properties. The company typically sells the conventional mortgage loans to correspondent financial institutions.
Consumer: The company offers various types of secured and unsecured consumer loans, including personal loans, lines of credit, overdraft lines of credit, automobile loans, installment loans, demand loans, and home equity loans. The company makes consumer loans primarily for personal, family or household purposes.
The company sells loan participations in the ordinary course of business. The company also purchases loan participations from time to time from other banks in the ordinary course of business. The company’s loan participations are without recourse against the originating bank. Purchased loan participations are underwritten in accordance with the company’s loan policy and represent a source of loan growth.
Other Banking Services: Other services offered by the bank include safe deposit boxes, traveler’s checks, direct deposit of payroll and social security checks, automatic drafts for various accounts, treasury management services and credit card merchant services. The bank also is associated with a shared network of automated teller machines (ATMs) that may be used by Bank customers throughout Virginia, the United States, and internationally.
The bank intends to introduce new products and services desired by the public and as permitted by the regulatory authorities. The bank remains committed to meeting the challenges that require technology. The bank provides its customers with access to the latest technological products, such as telephone banking and internet banking, including online bill pay. This service allows customers to handle routine transactions using a standard touch tone telephone or cell phone, applications for mobile devices, and via the internet at the Bank’s website.
Mortgage Banking: The bank, through the Mortgage Division originates conforming and non-conforming home mortgages primarily in the Region 2000 area. Beginning in 2013, the company began operating the Mortgage Division with hybrid correspondent relationships that allow the bank to close loans in its name before an investor purchases the loan.
Investment Advisory Services: The company provides investment advisory services through Financial’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Pettyjohn, Wood & White, Inc. (PWW), a Lynchburg, Virginia-based investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. PWW generates revenue primarily through investment advisory fees.
Other Activities
The company provides brokerage and investment services through the bank’s Investment division (Investment Division). The Investment Division provides securities brokerage services to Bank customers and others through an agreement with Osaic Institutions, Inc. (Osaic), a registered broker-dealer. Under its agreement, Osaic operates a service center at the main office located at 828 Main St, Lynchburg, Virginia.
The company provides insurance and annuity products through BOTJ Insurance as an agent for national insurance companies. As of the date hereof, we offer the following insurance products: life insurance, fixed annuities, and disability insurance. We began providing these services in September 2008. To date the operating results of BOTJ Insurance have not had a material impact on our financial performance.
Location and Market Area
The bank’s market area primarily consists of Region 2000, which encompasses the seven jurisdictions of the Town of Altavista, Amherst County, Appomattox County, the Town of Bedford, Bedford County, Campbell County, and the City of Lynchburg.
Investment Portfolio
As of December 31, 2023, the company’s investment portfolio included U.S. treasuries; U.S. agency obligations; mortgage - backed securities; municipals; and corporates.
Supervision and Regulation
Financial is subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the ‘Exchange Act’), including the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the ‘SEC’) of annual, quarterly and other reports on the financial condition and performance of the organization. Financial is directly affected by the corporate responsibility and accounting reform legislation signed into law on July 30, 2002, known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the ‘SOx Act’), and the related rules and regulations.
As a bank holding company registered under the bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (the ‘BHCA’), Financial is subject to regulation and examination by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the ‘Federal Reserve Board’).
Financial continues to evaluate the potential impact of the Dodd-Frank Reform Act.
While it maintains the majority of the regulatory structure established by the Dodd-Frank Act, the Regulatory Relief Act amends certain aspects for small depository institutions with less than $10 billion in assets, such as the bank.
The bank is a Virginia chartered commercial bank and a state member bank. The bank’s deposit accounts are insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund (‘DIF’) of the FDIC up to the maximum legal limits of the FDIC and it is subject to regulation, supervision and regular examination by the Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions and the Federal Reserve.
As a state-chartered commercial bank, the bank and its subsidiaries are subject to regulation, supervision and examination by the Federal Reserve and the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Financial Institutions (the ‘BFI’).
The bank is subject to the provisions of Section 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act and Federal Reserve Regulation W of the Federal Reserve Bank which place limits on the amount of loans or extensions of credit to affiliates (as defined in the Federal Reserve Act), investments in or certain other transactions with affiliates and on the amount of advances to third parties collateralized by the securities or obligations of affiliates.
The bank is subject to the restrictions contained in Section 22(h) of the Federal Reserve Act and the Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation O thereunder on loans to executive officers, directors and principal stockholders.
All of the bank’s loans to its and the company’s executive officers, directors and greater-than-10% stockholders, and affiliated interests of such persons, comply with the requirements of Regulation W and Section 22(h) of the Federal Reserve Act and Regulation O.
The bank has a CRA rating of ‘satisfactory’. The bank’s Mortgage Division is subject to the rules and regulations by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (‘HUD’), the Federal Housing Administration (the ‘FHA’), the Department of Veteran Affairs and state regulatory authorities with respect to originating, processing, servicing and selling mortgage loans.
PWW is a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and as such, is supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
History
Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1999. The company, a Virginia corporation, was incorporated in 2003.
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