CORRESP 1 filename1.htm

 

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

 

MARTIN LIPTON

DAVID M. SILK

 

51 WEST 52ND STREET

 

IGOR KIRMAN

JOSHUA A. FELTMAN

HERBERT M. WACHTELL

ROBIN PANOVKA

 

NEW YORK, N.Y. 10019-6150

 

JONATHAN M. MOSES

ELAINE P. GOLIN

PAUL VIZCARRONDO, JR.

DAVID A. KATZ

 

TELEPHONE: (212) 403 -1000

 

T. EIKO STANGE

EMIL A. KLEINHAUS

PETER C. HEIN

ILENE KNABLE GOTTS

 

FACSIMILE: (212) 403 -2000

 

DAVID A. SCHWARTZ

KARESSA L. CAIN

HAROLD S. NOVIKOFF

JEFFREY M. WINTNER

 

__________________

 

 

JOHN F. LYNCH

RONALD C. CHEN

THEODORE N. MIRVIS

TREVOR S. NORWITZ

 

GEORGE A. KATZ (1965-1989)

 

WILLIAM SAVITT

GORDON S. MOODIE

EDWARD D. HERLIHY

BEN M. GERMANA

 

JAMES H. FOGELSON (1967-1991)

 

ERIC M. ROSOF

DONGJU SONG

DANIEL A. NEFF

ANDREW J. NUSSBAUM

 

LEONARD M. ROSEN (1965-2014)

 

MARTIN J.E. ARMS

BRADLEY R. WILSON

ANDREW R. BROWNSTEIN

RACHELLE SILVERBERG

 

__________________

 

 

GREGORY E. OSTLING

GRAHAM W. MELI

PAUL K. ROWE

STEVEN A. COHEN

 

OF COUNSEL

 

DAVID B. ANDERS

GREGORY E. PESSIN

MARC WOLINSKY

DEBORAH L. PAUL

 

ANDREA K. WAHLQUIST

CARRIE M. REILLY

DAVID GRUENSTEIN

DAVID C. KARP

 

WILLIAM T. ALLEN

 

DAVID M. MURPHY

 

ADAM J. SHAPIRO

MARK F. VEBLEN

STEVEN A. ROSENBLUM

RICHARD K. KIM

 

MICHAEL H. BYOWITZ

 

DAVID S. NEILL

 

NELSON O. FITTS

VICTOR GOLDFELD

JOHN F. SAVARESE

JOSHUA R. CAMMAKER

 

PETER C. CANELLOS

 

BERNARD W. NUSSBAUM

 

JOSHUA M. HOLMES

EDWARD J. LEE

SCOTT K. CHARLES

MARK GORDON

 

DAVID M. EINHORN

 

LAWRENCE B. PEDOWITZ

 

DAVID E. SHAPIRO

BRANDON C. PRICE

JODI J. SCHWARTZ

JOSEPH D. LARSON

 

KENNETH B. FORREST

 

ERIC S. ROBINSON

 

DAMIAN G. DIDDEN

KEVIN S. SCHWARTZ

ADAM O. EMMERICH

LAWRENCE S. MAKOW

 

THEODORE GEWERTZ

 

PATRICIA A. ROBINSON*

 

IAN BOCZKO

MICHAEL S. BENN

GEORGE T. CONWAY III

JEANNEMARIE O’BRIEN

 

MAURA R. GROSSMAN

 

ERIC M. ROTH

 

MATTHEW M. GUEST

SABASTIAN V. NILES

RALPH M. LEVENE

WAYNE M. CARLIN

 

RICHARD D. KATCHER

 

MICHAEL W. SCHWARTZ

 

DAVID E. KAHAN

ALISON ZIESKE PREISS

RICHARD G. MASON

STEPHEN R. DiPRIMA

 

MEYER G. KOPLOW

 

STEPHANIE J. SELIGMAN

 

DAVID K. LAM

 

MICHAEL J. SEGAL

NICHOLAS G. DEMMO

 

DOUGLAS K. MAYER

 

ELLIOTT V. STEIN

 

BENJAMIN M. ROTH

 

 

 

 

ROBERT B. MAZUR

 

WARREN R. STERN

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARSHALL L. MILLER

 

PATRICIA A. VLAHAKIS

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHILIP MINDLIN

 

ANTE VUCIC

 

 

 

 

 

 

ROBERT M. MORGENTHAU

 

AMY R. WOLF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* ADMITTED IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

 

 

 

 

 

__________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COUNSEL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAVID M. ADLERSTEIN

 

PAULA N. GORDON

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMANDA K. ALLEXON

 

NANCY B. GREENBAUM

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOUIS J. BARASH

 

MARK A. KOENIG

 

 

 

 

 

 

FRANCO CASTELLI

 

LAUREN M. KOFKE

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIANNA CHEN

 

J. AUSTIN LYONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANDREW J.H. CHEUNG

 

ALICIA C. McCARTHY

 

 

 

 

 

 

PAMELA EHRENKRANZ

 

AMANDA N. PERSAUD

 

 

 

 

 

 

UMUT ERGUN

 

S. CHRISTOPHER SZCZERBAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

KATHRYN GETTLES-ATWA

 

JEFFREY A. WATIKER

 

 

 

 

 

 

ADAM M. GOGOLAK

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 4, 2016

 

VIA EDGAR AND FEDERAL EXPRESS
Mr. Christian N. Windsor
Division of Corporation Finance

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F. Street, N.W.

Washington, DC  20549

 

Re:                 The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited
Amendment No. 1 to

Draft Registration Statement on Form F-1
Submitted July 7, 2016
CIK No. 0001653242

 

Dear Mr. Windsor:

 

On behalf of The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited, a Bermuda company (the “Company”), we are submitting this letter in response to comments from the staff (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) received by letter dated July 21, 2016 (the “Comment Letter”) relating to the above-referenced submission (the “Confidential Submission”).  The Company is concurrently filing a Registration Statement on Form F-1 (the “Registration Statement”) via EDGAR, and five courtesy copies of the

 


 

Mr. Christian N. Windsor

August 4, 2016

Page 2

 

Registration Statement marked to show changes to the Confidential Submission are being sent to the Staff under separate cover.

 

For the convenience of the Staff, each of the Staff’s comments is reproduced below in bold and is followed by the corresponding response of the Company.  Unless otherwise indicated, capitalized terms used herein have the meanings assigned to them in the Registration Statement.  All page references in the responses set forth below refer to pages of the Registration Statement.

 

Prospectus Summary, page 1

 

Overview, page 1

 

1.                                      We note your charts presenting your “Core Net Income to Common” and “Core Earnings per Common Share Fully Diluted” on pages 3 and 81.  We also note your charts presenting “Core ROATCE” on pages 10 and 88.  These presentations appear to give undue prominence to these non-GAAP measures as they are not balanced with the presentation of your comparable GAAP measures for the periods presented.  Refer to Question 102.10 of the Non-GAAP Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations, available on our website at http://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/guidance/ nongaapinterp.htm, and revise your presentation accordingly.

 

Response:  In response to the Staff’s comment, pages 3, 11, 85 and 93 of the Registration Statement have been revised.

 

A decline in the residential real estate market, in particular in Bermuda, could increase the risk of loans being impaired…, page 27

 

2.                                      We note your revised disclosure in response to comment 20 that indices for the value of residential real estate did not exist in Bermuda, the UK or the Cayman Islands. Revise this risk factor, or add a separate risk factor, that discusses the risks to investors from the fact that you do not have a mechanism to value the overall real estate market in your key business areas, and therefore must rely on observations of the valuation of your own real estate originations in order to assess whether the value of mortgaged real estate has declined.

 

Response:  In response to the Staff’s comment, pages 28 - 29 of the Registration Statement have been revised.

 

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures, page 69

 

3.                                      We note your response to prior comment 6 of our letter dated June 16, 2016 and your revised disclosures related to your non-GAAP adjustments. A number of the adjustments are characterized as “non-recurring” or “individually non-recurring,” even though some

 


 

Mr. Christian N. Windsor

August 4, 2016

Page 3

 

of these adjustments do not meet the characteristics of non-recurring provided in Item 10(e)(1)(ii)(B) of Regulation S-K as they are likely to recur in the next two years or there was a similar adjustment within the prior two years. Therefore, please revise your descriptions of such adjustments to comply with the guidance of Regulation 10(e). Refer also to Non-GAAP Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations Question 102.03.

 

Response:  In response to the Staff’s comment, pages 70 and 74 - 75 of the Registration Statement have been revised.

 

Earnings Upside Potential, page 89

 

4.                                      In this section you discuss the potential positive impact on your business from an increase in market interest rates. It also appears that, world-wide, interest rates have trended downward, with some nations borrowing at negative rates. Revise this section to discuss the impact on your earnings from a continuation of the low-rate environment, and also the impact of lowered rates over the short term upon your earnings. Make similar revisions to your disclosure on page 10. Also, revise this section to discuss the extent to which management believes that some of your non-interest bearing deposits might withdraw in search of more yield in the event that rates did increase.

 

Response:  In response to the Staff’s comment, pages 11 - 12 and 93 of the Registration Statement have been revised.

 

5.                                      Please tell us, with a view towards revised disclosure, whether management has identified any specific acquisition targets, particularly in the wealth management area.

 

Response:  The Company supplementally advises the Staff that, from time to time, the Company identifies potential acquisition targets in connection with its growth and development strategy, and the Company may engage in informal discussions with potential acquisition targets. Any potential acquisition target is determined with reference to the Company’s board of directors’ approved corporate development framework, which operates within a closely monitored risk appetite. The Company further advises the Staff that it has not, to date, engaged in any substantive discussions with respect to any potential acquisitions that are reasonably expected to lead to a transaction that is expected to be material to the Company.

 

*                              *                              *

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned at (212) 403-1155.

 

 

Very truly yours,

 

 

 

/s/ Edward J. Lee

 

Edward J. Lee

 


 

Mr. Christian N. Windsor

August 4, 2016

Page 4

 

Enclosure

 

cc:           E. Barclay Simmons (The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited)

 

Shaun Morris (The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited)

 

John B. Meade (Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP)