SEC Company Response from TF FINANCIAL CORP (CIK 0000921051) — Sep 22, 2005
TF FINANCIAL CORP (CIK 0000921051)
Date: Sept. 22, 2005 · CIK: 0000921051 · Accession: 0000946275-05-000922
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 000-24168
Referenced dates: September 12, 2005
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[LOGO] TF FINANCIAL
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CORPORATION
VIA EDGAR
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September 22, 2005
Mr. John Cash
Accounting Branch Chief
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Re: TF Financial Corporation
SEC File No. 000-24168
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004
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Dear Mr. Cash:
This is in response to your comment letter dated September 12, 2005,
with respect to the above-referenced issuer, TF Financial Corporation (the
"Company"). The following information is provided to you supplementally in
accordance with your comment letter.
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
1. Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
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The Company is not an accelerated filer and therefore, was not (and is not
now) subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. However, Third
Federal Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, was required to obtain
an audit opinion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial
reporting under 12CFR Part 363.3(b) as part of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (FDICIA) and is required to file same,
together with an attestation of its independent auditors, with the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") under Part 363 of the Regulations of the
FDIC.
Our auditors performed an audit of internal control under the interim
standards adopted by the Public Accounting Oversight Board (AT 501) and issued
their opinion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting
for Third Federal Bank. The audit of internal control was not performed in
accordance with Auditing Standard No. 2.
Because not all issuers are required to have an audit of internal control,
we understand that many auditing firms, including ours, included an explanatory
paragraph to communicate whether an audit of internal control was or was not
performed, and if performed, the relevant standards followed in performing the
audit. This was the
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Mr. John Cash
Accounting Branch Chief
September 22, 2005
Page 2
objective of our auditors in the explanatory paragraph included in the Company's
audit report. Because the Company is currently not an accelerated filer (and
therefore not subject to Section 404) and the language included in the auditor's
report as it relates to the Company's wholly-owned banking subsidiary is not
misleading, inaccurate or inconsistent, we do not believe that an amendment to
the Form 10-K to remove the language from the auditor's report is warranted.
We also wish to confirm supplementally that the Company has not received
any questions from stockholders, and has no reason to believe that there is any
confusion among potential investors and our stockholders, regarding the
inclusion of the explanatory paragraph in our auditor's report.
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the Quarter Ended June 30, 2005
2. Controls and Procedures
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We wish to advise the staff supplementally that the Supervisory Agreement
("Agreement") entered into with the Office of Thrift Supervision ("OTS") dealt
exclusively with Information Technology ("IT") issues. After a detailed
evaluation of the IT issues implicated in the Agreement we concluded that the
controls identified were considered primarily to be general IT controls that
pertain to the efficiency or effectiveness of the operations of the Company and
not those controls that are primarily relevant to financial reporting such as
application-level controls. For example, the Agreement included findings on a
corporate-wide Business Continuity Plan and controls over the telephone banking
Voice Response Unit. The Agreement also called for strengthening of the internal
audit process for the follow-up of corrective actions over IT and a long-range
Information Technology Strategic Plan to augment the IT plan outlined in the
overall business plan. While the Company did consider whether revisions to the
Disclosure Controls and Procedures were appropriate following the execution of
the Agreement, as stated above, the general IT controls identified as issues in
the OTS examination did not pertain to financial reporting. Accordingly, in
management's judgment, no revisions to the Disclosure Controls and Procedures
were required. Moreover, we note that that the Agreement was disclosed in the
Company's first Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC immediately
after the Company entered into the Agreement. We believe that the prompt
disclosure of the Agreement confirms that the Company's Disclosure Controls and
Procedures are effective to ensure that information required to be timely
disclosed in our Exchange Act reports is accumulated and communicated to our
senior management and that such procedures are effective and working in the
intended manner.
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Mr. John Cash
Accounting Branch Chief
September 22, 2005
Page 3
3. Controls and Procedures
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The Company stated in its Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
June 30, 2005 that: "Based on their evaluation of the Company's disclosure
controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act")), the Company's principal executive
officer and principal financial officer have concluded that as of the end of the
period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q such disclosure controls
and procedures are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed
by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is
recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified
in Securities and Exchange Commission rules and forms."
The Company hereby confirms that as of December 31, 2004, March 31,
2005, and June 30, 2005 its disclosure controls and procedures were also
effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports
that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated
to the President and Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer to
allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. The Company will revise
this disclosure in future filings to state that its disclosure controls and
procedures are effective, or not effective, without referencing the definitions
under Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e).
Acknowledgments
The Company hereby acknowledges that:
o It is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in its
filings with the Commission;
o It is aware that staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to
staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with
respect to the filing; and
o It may not assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated
by the Commission or any person under the federal securities laws of the
United States.
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Mr. John Cash
Accounting Branch Chief
September 22, 2005
Page 4
We hope the foregoing is responsive to your comments. Please feel free
to contact me if we can provide you with any additional information. Thank you.
Sincerely,
/s/Kent C. Lufkin
Kent C. Lufkin
President and Chief Executive Officer
cc: Ms. Jennifer Thompson, SEC Staff Accountant
John J. Spidi, Esq.
Mr. Richard Huff, Grant Thornton LLP
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