About Peoples Financial

Peoples Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for The Peoples Bank, Biloxi, Mississippi that provides various banking, financial, and trust services to state, county and local government entities and individuals and small and commercial businesses operating in those portions of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, which are within a fifty mile radius of the Waveland, Wiggins and Gautier branches, its most outlying locations (the trade area). The company also has branches located throughout Harrison, Hancock, Jackson and Stone counties. The bank has automated teller machines (ATM) at its main office, all branch locations and at non-proprietary location. Products and Services The company offers a variety of services to individuals and small to middle market businesses within its trade area. The company’s trade area is defined as those portions of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama which are within a fifty mile radius of the Waveland, Wiggins and Gautier branches, the company’s three most outlying locations. The company’s primary lending focus is to offer business, commercial, real estate, construction, personal and installment loans, with an emphasis on commercial lending. The company’s exposure for out of area, residential and land development, construction and commercial real estate loans, as well as concentrations in the hotel/motel and gaming industries, are monitored by the company. Each loan officer has board approved lending limits on the principal amount of secured and unsecured loans that can be approved for a single borrower without prior approval of the senior credit committee. All loans, however, must meet the credit underwriting standards and loan policies of the company. Deposit services include interest bearing and non-interest bearing checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and IRA accounts. The company generally provides depository accounts to individuals; small and middle market businesses; and state, county and local government entities in its trade area at interest rates consistent with market conditions. The bank's Asset Management and Trust Services Department (Trust Department) offers personal trust, agencies and estate services, including living and testamentary trusts, executorships, guardianships, and conservatorships. Benefit accounts maintained by the Trust Department primarily include self-directed individual retirement accounts. Escrow management, stock transfer and bond paying agency accounts are available to corporate customers. The bank also offers a variety of other services including safe deposit box rental, wire transfer services, night drop facilities, collection services, cash management and internet banking. The bank has ATMs at its branch locations and another other off-site, proprietary location, providing bank customers access to their depository accounts. The bank is a member of the PULSE network. Investment Portfolio As of December 31, 2022, the company’s investment portfolio included U.S. Treasuries; mortgage-backed securities; collateralized mortgage obligations; and states and political subdivisions. Customers The company has a large number of customers acquired over a period of many years. The company also provides services to customers representing a wide variety of industries, including seafood, retail, hospitality, hotel/motel, gaming and construction. Regulation and Supervision As a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, the company is subject to regulation, supervision and examination by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (the Federal Reserve). The company is required to file semi-annual reports with the Federal Reserve and such other information as the Federal Reserve may require. The company is also required to file certain reports with, and otherwise comply with the rules and regulations of, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the federal securities laws. The bank is incorporated under the laws of the state of Mississippi and is subject to the applicable provisions of Mississippi banking laws and the laws of the various states in which it operates, as well as federal law. The bank is subject to the supervision of the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance (the MDBCF) and to regular examinations by that department. Deposits in the bank are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the FDIC), and the bank is thus subject to the provisions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and to supervision and examination by the FDIC. State and federal laws also govern the activities in which the bank engages, the investments that it makes and the aggregate amount of loans that may be granted to one borrower. The MDBCF and the FDIC also regulate the branching authority of the bank. In addition, various consumer and compliance laws and regulations affect the bank’s operations. The bank is subject to regulation and supervision by the MDBCF and by the FDIC, which regulation and supervision extends to all aspects of its operations, including but not limited to requirements concerning an allowance for loan losses, lending and mortgage operations, interest rates received on loans and paid on deposits, the payment of dividends to the company, loans to officers and directors, mergers and acquisitions, capital adequacy, and the opening and closing of branches. The bank is subject to periodic examinations by the MDBCF and by the FDIC. The bank is a state chartered bank whose deposits are insured under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. The FDIC insures deposits at federally insured depository institutions like the bank. The FDIC charges banks deposit insurance assessments to maintain the Deposit Insurance Fund. The bank is subject to the Federal Reserve’s Regulation W, which implements the restrictions of Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act on transactions between a bank and its affiliates. The affiliates of the bank, as defined in Regulation W, are the company and its non-bank subsidiary. Section 23A and the implementing provisions of Regulation W generally place limits on the amount of a bank’s loans or extensions of credit to, investments in, or certain other transactions with its affiliates, and on the amount of advances to third parties collateralized by the securities or obligations of affiliates. Section 23B and Regulation W generally require a bank’s transactions with affiliates to be on terms substantially the same, or at least as favorable to the bank, as those prevailing at the time for comparable transactions with non-affiliated companies. In connection with its examination of the bank, the FDIC is required to assess the bank’s record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) requires the bank’s record of compliance with the CRA to be taken into account in the evaluation of applications by the bank or the company for approval of an expansionary proposal, such as a merger or other acquisition of another bank or the opening of a new branch office. The bank received a satisfactory rating in its most recent CRA assessment by the FDIC. The bank’s lending and deposit-taking operations are subject to numerous other federal and state laws designed to protect consumers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issues regulations and standards under the federal consumer protection laws, which include, among others, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Truth in Savings Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the National Flood Insurance Act, the Flood Protection Act, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s prohibition on unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices. The bank’s consumer financial products and services are subject to examination by the FDIC for compliance with these and other CFPB regulations and standards. The bank is subject to the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. As a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act, the company is subject to regulation, supervision, and examination by the Federal Reserve. The company is required to file semi-annual reports with the Federal Reserve and provide such additional information as the Federal Reserve may require. Under the Bank Holding Company Act, the company is required to obtain the prior approval of the Federal Reserve to acquire ownership or control of more than 5% of the voting shares or substantially all of the assets of any bank holding company or bank or to merge or consolidate with another bank holding company. Federal law authorizes bank holding companies to make interstate acquisitions of banks without geographic limitation. The company’s common stock is registered under Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), and the company is subject to the periodic reporting and other requirements of the SEC under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act and SEC regulations. The common stock of the company is listed on the OTCQX Best Market, such listing subjecting the company to compliance with the market’s requirements with respect to reporting and other rules and regulations. History Peoples Financial Corporation was founded in 1896.