Hudson City Bancorp
Encyclopedia
Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. based in Paramus, New Jersey
Paramus, New Jersey
Paramus is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 26,342. A suburb of New York City, Paramus is located between 15–20 miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan and approximately west of Upper Manhattan.Paramus is one of...

 is a bank holding company for Hudson City Savings Bank, its only subsidiary, the largest savings bank in New Jersey, and one of the oldest banks in the United States, with US$50 billion in assets. It is now a fully publicly-held entity, and one of the most recent additions to the S&P 500
S&P 500
The S&P 500 is a free-float capitalization-weighted index published since 1957 of the prices of 500 large-cap common stocks actively traded in the United States. The stocks included in the S&P 500 are those of large publicly held companies that trade on either of the two largest American stock...

 Index of the largest publicly-traded companies in the United States. In 2005 its US$3.93 billion secondary offering of common stock was the largest in United States banking history. At the time it was also the seventh largest domestic public offering in United States history, surpassing Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

's highly-publicized 2004 offering at US$2.7 billion, among others.

The company is located at West 80 Century Road, in Paramus, New Jersey.

Hudson City Savings Bank

On March 27, 1868 the Hudson City Savings Bank received a special charter from the New Jersey Legislature
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the Senate...

 to open in what was then the small Hudson City, New Jersey
Hudson City, New Jersey
Hudson was a city that existed in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, from 1855 to 1870 when it became part of Jersey City.Hudson Town, a predecessor of Hudson City, was formed by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 12, 1852, from portions of North Bergen Township.Hudson City itself...

. Garrett D. Van Reipen became the first President of the small bank. Van Reipen was the city's first mayor.

By the early 1870s, the City of Hudson was annexed by Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...

, the second largest city in the state. By the end of the 19th Century, the bank had accumulated assets and deposits of over $1 million.

By about 1905, the bank's assets reached US$2 million. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Hudson City Savings Bank sold Liberty Loan bonds and Victory Loan bonds, and also bought a half million dollars of war bonds. In January 1918, Robert J. Rendall became the savings bank's President, and by his death in 1950 he had become one of the longest serving Presidents in the company's history.

In the 1920s, Hudson City Savings Bank opened its second branch office, and moved from the old headquarters on Newark Avenue, to 587 Summit Avenue in Jersey City. The company survived the aftermath of the stock market crash of 1929 when many other banks closed. By the end of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 of the 1930s, the savings bank had accumulated US$11 million in assets and held US$800,000 in reserves.

During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Hudson City Savings Bank sold millions of dollars worth of U.S. War Bonds. By the end of the 1940s, the savings bank had opened a total of three Jersey City branches, with over US$26 million in assets.

In August 1950, President Robert J. Rendall died. During the 1950s New Jersey's growth rate was double the national average, boosting the savings bank's growth as well. By 1959, Hudson City Savings Bank had accumulated over US$50 million in assets.

In 1968, Kenneth L. Birchby became President and CEO of Hudson City Savings Bank. By the late 1960s, New Jersey State banking laws made it legal for banks to operate across county lines. In 1969, Hudson City Savings Bank opened its fifth branch, and its first branch across the county line at Waldwick
Waldwick, New Jersey
Waldwick is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 9,625.-Geography:Waldwick is located at ....

, in Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...

. The savings bank's total assets by then had reached US$175 million.

During the long secular bear market and economic malaise of the 1970s the savings bank grew to 37 branches in 12 New Jersey counties. In 1978, the headquarters moved to neighboring Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...

. By then the bank had accumulated total assets and deposits of over US$1.1 billion each.

In 1981, Leonard S. Gudelski became President. The savings bank survived the troubles surrounding double-digit inflation and interest rates, followed by the early 1980s recession
Early 1980s recession
The early 1980s recession describes the severe global economic recession affecting much of the developed world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The United States and Japan exited recession relatively early, but high unemployment would continue to affect other OECD nations through at least 1985...

 and then the late 1980s Savings and Loan crisis when many other banks and savings and loans failed.

In 1988, Ronald E. Hermance, Jr. was hired at Hudson City Savings as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...

. He had previously been Chief Financial Officer
Chief financial officer
The chief financial officer or Chief financial and operating officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management...

 of Southold Savings Bank on Long Island, New York.

By the end of 1989, Hudson City Savings Bank had 69 branches and total assets of US$3.2 billion.

Following the 1990-1991 recession, by 1992, Hudson City Savings Bank became the largest savings bank in New Jersey. In 1996, Leonard S. Gudelski was elected Chairman of the savings bank, and also retained his position as President through that year.

In January 1997, Ronald E. Hermance, Jr. retained his position as COO, and also became promoted to replace Gudelski as the 11th President of Hudson City Savings Bank. Gudelski remained as Chairman.

As of January 1, 2011 there are 136 branch offices, 9 in Connecticut, all in Fairfield County, 29 in New York, occupying Rockland, Putnam, Westchester, and Suffolk Counties as well as the Boro of Staten Island in New York City, and 98 in New Jersey spanning Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Warren, Essex, Hudson, Union, Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Burlington, Camden, Atlantic, and Gloucester Counties.

Hudson City Bancorp

In February 1999, the savings bank initiated a plan of reorganization, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. The company issued stock for the first time, raising over US$500 million of new capital. Assets exceeded $8 billion by then.

On July 13, 1999 Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. was formally recognized by the United States Federal Reserve as the Bank Holding Company for the savings bank.

On January 1, 2002 Ronald E. Hermance, Jr. retained his position as President and also became promoted from COO to CEO of the new holding company.

On January 1, 2004, the company was changed from a Bank Holding Company to a Domestic Entity Other as categorized by the Federal Reserve System
Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...

, defined generically as a domestic institution that engages in the business of banking in the United States. The move was in preparation for its huge stock offering, the company's second-step mutual-to-stock conversion.

On January 1, 2005 Ronald Hermance, Jr. replaced Gudelski as Chairman, as well as retaining his existing positions as President and CEO. In 2004, he had also begun serving on the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York.

On June 8, 2005 the company made the largest public stock offering in the history of the United States banking industry, represented by Thacher Proffitt. The conversion from the mutual holding company structure made Hudson City Bancorp a fully publicly-held entity. In the public offering, 393 million shares were sold at $10.00 per share. The company also split its existing stock 3.206-for-one. The new Hudson City Bancorp shares traded on the NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...

 under the ticker symbol symbol HCBK.

By 2007, Hudson City Savings Bank had become the largest New Jersey based savings bank, and the third largest savings and loan association
Savings and loan association
A savings and loan association , also known as a thrift, is a financial institution that specializes in accepting savings deposits and making mortgage and other loans...

 in the United States, with over US$35 billion in assets, over 100 branches in New Jersey, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, and with over 1,300 employees.

On February 14, 2007 Hudson City Bancorp was added to the S&P 500 Index by Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for its stock-market indices, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian...

, where it replaced American Power Conversion Corporation (formerly ).

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