Bank stock plan approved


John Ruch

JP CENTER—Peoples Federal Savings Bank, a Brighton-based bank with a Jamaica Plain branch, converted into a publicly owned, stock-based corporation in a change approved by depositors on June 28.

The 120-year-old Peoples Federal was a mutual bank, meaning that it was owned by its depositors and shareholders. Now, only people who buy shares of stock will have that ownership stake. The June 28 vote also established a new, stock-funded charitable foundation.

Gazette Publications, Inc., the company that publishes the Gazette, is a Peoples Federal customer.

“The customers won’t see any change whatsoever as far as our focus on community banking,” said Thomas Leetch, the bank’s president and chief operating officer, in a Gazette interview.

The stock sales will give the bank more money, enabling it to expand into other communities and boost its lending, Leetch said.

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