SEC Company Response from Bancorp 34, (BCTF) — Jul 26, 2016
Bancorp 34, Inc.
Date: July 26, 2016 · CIK: 0001668340 · Accession: 0001571049-16-016797
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-211820
Referenced dates: June 29, 2016
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CORRESP
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LUSE GORMAN, PC
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
5335 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 780
Washington, D.C. 20015
Telephone (202) 274-2000
Facsimile (202) 362-2902
www.luselaw.com
WRITER’S DIRECT DIAL NUMBER
WRITER’S EMAIL
(202) 274-2007
nquint@luselaw.com
July 26, 2016
VIA EDGAR
Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549-4720
Attn.:
Era Anagnosti
Legal Branch Chief
Office of Financial Services
Re:
Bancorp 34, Inc. (Registration No. 333-211820)
Registration Statement on Form S-1
Dear Ms. Anagnosti:
On behalf of Bancorp 34, Inc. (the “Company”)
and in accordance with Rule 101 of Regulation S-T, we are hereby transmitting Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Company’s
Registration Statement on Form S-1 (the “Amended S-1”). Set forth below are the comments from the Staff’s comment
letter dated June 29, 2016, as well as the Company’s responses to those comments. The Amended S-1 has been blacklined to
reflect changes from the original filing.
General
1. Please supplementally provide us with copies of all written communications, as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities
Act, that you, or anyone authorized to do so on your behalf, present to potential investors in reliance on Section 5(d) of the
Securities Act, whether or not they retain copies of the communications.
Please be advised that the Company does
not intend to provide any written communications in reliance on Section 5(d) of the Securities Act.
LUSE GORMAN, PC
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Securities and Exchange Commission
July 26, 2016
Page 2
Prospectus Cover Page
2. Please revise your disclosure in the fifth paragraph to indicate that the orders are subject to a maximum limit, in addition
to a minimum order limited. In this regard, we note your “Limits on How Much Common Stock You May Purchase” disclosure
on page 10.
The cover page of the prospectus has been
revised, as requested.
Summary, page 1
General
3. We note that the plan of conversion filed as Exhibit 2 to the registration statement contemplates two mergers as part of
the conversion plan: the MHC Merger and the Mid-Tier Merger (as the terms are defined in the plan). Please revise your disclosures
where applicable to properly capture the corporate restructuring and tell us whether you plan to file the Articles of Merger as
exhibits to the registration statement.
Page 1 has been revised, as requested. We
note that similar language currently exists under “General” on page 126.
We respectfully request that the Company
not be required to file articles of merger as exhibits to the registration statement, as the Company believes that, in this transaction,
the articles of merger are not material to investors. All of the material rights of stockholders are included in the articles of
incorporation and bylaws of the Company, which documents are already filed as exhibits to the registration statement. The articles
of merger are not amending the articles of incorporation/charter or bylaws of any entity and, therefore, are not changing the rights
of stockholders. Instead, the articles of merger are merely being filed with regulatory agencies and the Maryland Department of
Assessments and Taxation (secretary of state) to notify such agencies of the completion of a transaction, the material terms of
which are included in the plan of conversion that is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement and described in the prospectus.
Terms of the Offering, page 5
4. You disclose that if you extend the offering beyond the extension date, you will notify subscribers of the extension time.
Please explain, and to the extent necessary revise your disclosure to describe, how you will notify your subscribers.
LUSE GORMAN, PC
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Securities and Exchange Commission
July 26, 2016
Page 3
Subscribers will be notified by mail sent to the address the
subscriber provides on the stock order form they have submitted. Page 5 has been revised, as requested.
Risk Factors, page 18
Because we intend to increase our commercial real estate
and commercial business loan originations … , page 18
5. We note that your commercial real estate and commercial loans may involve relatively large loan balances to individual borrowers
or groups of related borrowers. In light of your page 84 disclosure, further revise your disclose to state that your ten largest
commercial real estate loans had an average balance of $3.1 million at March 31, 2016, representing approximately 31% of your commercial
real estate loans.
Page 18 has been revised, as requested.
We are an emerging growth company … , page 27
6. We note your disclosure that you have elected to comply with new or amended accounting pronouncements in the same manner
as a private company. Please revise your risk factors and other parts of the filing as applicable to clearly disclose the following:
· You have elected to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards.
· Explain that this election allows you to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective
dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies.
· Include a statement indicating that your financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public
company effective dates. Provide a similar statement in your critical accounting policy disclosures in MD&A.
Pages 16 to 17, 27, 58 and 108 to 109 have been revised as requested.
LUSE GORMAN, PC
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Securities and Exchange Commission
July 26, 2016
Page 4
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations, page 48
Comparison of Financial Condition at March 31, 2016 and December
31, 2015, page 57
7. We note that you attribute the decline in cash and cash equivalents during this period to “the variability in the
timing of deposits.” Based on your “Liquidity and Capital Resources” disclosure on page 79, it appears that you
are referring to the variability in the timing of “interest-earning deposits with other banks.” If true, please revise
your disclosure accordingly, or otherwise advise.
The decrease in cash and cash equivalents
between December 31, 2015 and March 31, 2016 was partially due to the Company’s ability to use excess cash to fund its lending
operations during the quarter ended March 31, 2016, which was partially offset by an increase in commercial deposits at the end
of the quarter ended March 31, 2016, as noted in the Liquidity and Capital Resources discussion. Page 64 has been revised accordingly.
Comparison of Stockholders’ Rights for Existing Stockholders
of Alamogordo Financial Corp., page 141
Special Meeting of Stockholders, page 143
8. Given that the right to call a special meeting of the stockholders represents a significant change for the public stockholders
of Alamogordo Financial, Corp., a risk factor highlighting any material differences appears appropriate. Please advise or revise
your disclosures as necessary.
Page 11 of the Proxy-Prospectus that is
being delivered to existing public stockholders of Alamogordo Financial Corp., and which is included in the Amended S-1 following
the prospectus, includes a risk factor summarizing the material changes in stockholder rights (“There may be a decrease in
stockholders’ rights for existing stockholders of Alamogordo Financial”). This risk factor has been revised, as requested.
* * * * *
LUSE GORMAN, PC
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Securities and Exchange Commission
July 26, 2016
Page 5
We trust the foregoing is responsive to
the Staff’s comments. We request that the Staff advise the undersigned at (202) 274-2007 or Eric Luse of this office at (202)
274-2002 as soon as possible if it has any further comments.
Respectfully,
/s/ Ned Quint
Ned Quint
Enclosures
cc:
Jill Gutierrez, Chief Executive Officer
Eric Luse, Esq.