NOTE 2- REGULATORY ORDER CONSIDERATIONS

Regulatory Order Considerations: On May 25, 2011, the Holding Company and CFBank each consented to the issuance of an Order to Cease and Desist (the “Holding Company Order” and the “CFBank Order”, respectively, and collectively, the “Orders”) by the Office of Thrift Supervision (the “OTS”), the primary regulator of the Holding Company and CFBank at the time the Orders were issued. In July 2011, in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), the Federal Reserve Board (the “FRB”) replaced the OTS as the primary regulator of the Holding Company and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) replaced the OTS as the primary regulator of CFBank.

The Orders imposed significant directives applicable to the Holding Company and CFBank, including requirements that we reduce the level of our classified and criticized assets, achieve growth and operating metrics in line with an approved business plan, and comply with restrictions on brokered deposits and on certain types of lending and prohibitions on dividends and repurchases of our capital stock. The CFBank Order required CFBank to have 8% core capital and 12% total risk-based capital, and CFBank could not be considered well-capitalized under the prompt corrective action regulations so long as the CFBank Order remained in place, even if it met or exceeded these capital levels. In addition, the regulators were required to approve any deviation from our business plan and certain compensation arrangements with directors and executive officers.

On August 20, 2012, the Holding Company announced the successful completion of its restructured registered common stock offering. The Holding Company sold 15.0 million shares of its common stock at $1.50 per share, resulting in gross proceeds of $22.5 million before expenses. With the proceeds from the stock offering, the Holding Company contributed $13.5 million to CFBank to improve its capital ratios and support future growth and expansion, bringing CFBank into compliance with the capital ratios required by the CFBank Order. In addition, the Holding Company used proceeds from the common stock offering to redeem its TARP obligations on September 26, 2012. The remaining proceeds from the restructured registered common stock offering were retained by the Company for general corporate purposes.

Effective as of January 23, 2014, the OCC released and terminated the CFBank Order based upon the improved capital position of CFBank, among other factors. Notwithstanding the release of the CFBank Order, CFBank is required to continue to maintain a minimum Tier 1 Leverage Capital Ratio of 8% and a Total Risk-based Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets ratio of 12%. In addition, in connection with the release and termination of the CFBank Order, CFBank has made certain commitments to the OCC to continue to adhere to certain prudent practices, including, without limitation, maintaining a written program to continue to improve CFBank’s credit underwriting and administrative process; take actions to protect its interest in criticized assets as identified by CFBank, the OCC examiners or its external loan review process; implement its written program to effectively identify, monitor, control and continue to reduce the level of credit risk to CFBank; review and monitor progress against such plan with the Board of Directors; and continue CFBank’s aggressive workout efforts and individualized workout plans on all criticized assets greater than $250,000.

On May 15, 2014, the FRB announced the termination of the Holding Company Order, effective as of May 9, 2014. Notwithstanding the termination of the Holding Company Order, the Holding Company is required to continue to adhere to certain requirements and restrictions based on commitments made to the FRB in connection with the termination of the Holding Company Order. These commitments require the Holding Company, among other things, to continue to implement certain actions in accordance with the capital plan previously submitted to the FRB; not declare or pay dividends on its stock, purchase or redeem its stock, or accept dividends or other capital distributions from CFBank without the prior written approval of the FRB; not incur, increase or guarantee any debt without the prior written consent of the FRB; and provide prior written notice to the FRB with respect to certain changes in directors and senior executive officers.

The significant directives contained in the Orders and the commitments made by CFBank and the Holding Company in connection with the release and termination of the Orders have provided challenges for the operation of our business and our ability to effectively compete in our markets. In addition, the Orders and our ongoing commitments to the regulators have required that we obtain approval from our regulators for any deviations from our business plan, which has limited our flexibility to make changes to the scope of our business activities.

The Company has been unprofitable for the past three years. If we do not generate profits in the future, our capital levels will be negatively impacted and the regulators could take additional enforcement action against us, including the imposition of further operating restrictions.

At September 30, 2014, CFBank had $37,787 in brokered deposits with maturity dates from October 2014 through August 2018. At September 30, 2014, cash, unpledged securities and deposits in other financial institutions totaled $31,463. Brokered deposit maturities over the next four years are as follows:


September 30, 2015	$	29,583
September 30, 2016		5,114
September 30, 2017		1,536
September 30, 2018		1,554
	$	37,787

Previously, because CFBank was under a regulatory order, it was prohibited from accepting or renewing brokered deposits, including reciprocal deposits in the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service® (CDARS) program, without FDIC approval. While under the CFBank Order, CFBank received limited waivers from the prohibition on renewal of reciprocal CDARS deposits from the FDIC, each for 90 day periods which expired on September 20, 2011, December 19, 2011, March 18, 2012, June 16, 2012, September 14, 2012 and December 31, 2013. On January 8, 2014, CFBank received a waiver for a 90-day period to allow the bank to renew deposits under the CDARS program. With the release of the CFBank Order, CFBank is no longer subject to these restrictions.

CFBank dividends serve as a potential source of liquidity to the Holding Company to meet its obligations. As of December 31, 2013, CFBank was not permitted to declare or pay dividends or make any other capital distributions without receiving the prior written approval of the OCC. Future dividend payments by CFBank to the Holding Company would be based on future earnings. In addition, any future dividends by the Holding Company on its preferred or common stock, and any dividends or capital contributions by CFBank to the Holding Company, are also subject to prior regulatory approval in accordance with the commitments made in connection with the release and termination of the Orders. In August 2014, the Holding Company received the prior approval from the FRB for the payment of a quarterly cash dividend on its Series B Preferred Stock in the amount of $187.5, which represents a dividend of $0.3906 per share, which was prorated for the preferred shareholders who closed on July 15, 2014.

The ability of the Holding Company to pay dividends on its common stock and Series B Preferred Stock is generally dependent upon the receipt of dividends and other distributions from CFBank. The Holding Company is a legal entity that is separate and distinct from CFBank, which has no obligation to make any dividends or other funds available for the payment of dividends by the Holding Company. The Holding Company also is subject to various legal and regulatory policies and requirements impacting the Holding Company’s ability to pay dividends on its stock, and pursuant to the commitments made to the FRB in connection with the termination of the Holding Company Order, the Holding Company may not declare or pay dividends on its stock without the prior written non-objection of the FRB. In addition, the Holding Company’s ability to pay dividends on its stock is conditioned upon the payment, on a current basis, of quarterly interest payments on the subordinated debentures underlying the Company’s trust preferred securities, which also requires the written non-objection of the FRB. Finally, so long as the Company’s Series B Preferred Stock remains outstanding, the Holding Company will be prohibited from paying dividends on (other than dividends payable solely in shares) the Company’s common stock, for the then-current dividend period, unless full dividends on the Series B Preferred Stock have been paid or set aside for payment. Dividends on the Series B Preferred Stock are non-cumulative, which means that if for any reason we do not declare cash dividends on the Series B Preferred Stock for a quarterly dividend period we will have no obligation to pay any dividends for that period (i.e., the dividends will not accrue or cumulate), whether or not we declare dividends on the Series B Preferred Stock for any subsequent dividend period.

We have taken such actions as we believe are necessary to comply with all requirements of the Orders and the other regulatory requirements and commitments to which we are subject, and we continue to work toward ensuring compliance with those regulatory requirements and commitments to which we continue to be subject.