Mergers & acquisitions are not a new concept in the community banking sector. Community bank merger & acquisition is an exclusive financial activity which makes the bank authorities to face challenges in a variety kind of issues. That's why, community bank officials including officers and directors should consult with an expert M & A advisor to recognise different liability issues that might crop up during a community bank merger & acquisition.

Here are discussed different type of issues that community bank officials may come across while dealing with a community bank merger & acquisition.

Squeeze outs - Major shareholders in community banks squeeze out minor shareholders by giving them compensation. The minor shareholders may feel upset because of the forced transfer of shares to major shareholders or they might oppose against the offered compensation package.

Leveraged buyouts (LBO) - In leveraged buyouts, the turnaround firms focus on to use the assets of the acquired community bank company as leverage for avoiding a large cash issue required to cover the entire cost of the acquisition process. Theoretically, it is a commendable procedure to merge the loss making community banks with top-trading organizations to boost its financial condition. In actual practice, buyouts in community bank merger & acquisition was performed to make the investment bankers, executives, board members, and lawyers wealthy while giving a negligible profit to investors.

The court may just declare the buyout formula to be completely unfair or top level management is found to have gained huge profits through the merger and acquisition.

Technical Issues - Unforeseen technical problems may arise when merged community banks attempt to integrate their information systems. It can lead to potential computer system integration issues like account statement errors or non functional ATM networks. As a result, customers may complain or shareholders might claim.

Varied Culture Issues - Sometimes, varied culture issues develop during community bank merger & acquisition. The merged bank's culture may not match with the acquiring institution's work culture and force the dissatisfied employees, investors, customers, or business partners to take legal action against the bank authorities if the banking service standard gets affected.

Operational Or Financial Issues - If the merged or acquired institution has a unique operational feature like financial brokerage or insurance services, operational problems may arise. Operational and financial issues resulted from the management's decision to merge with an irrelevant and new service may cause employees and customers to file legal suits against the involved bank authorities.

Inadequate Support And Flexibility - Inadequate support or flexibility is the most common complain made against bank officials if issues appear after the completion of community bank merger & acquisition. Wrong financial analysis, deception of the financial data by the acquired entity and incompetent review of the investment portfolios and loans are some of the common allegations that bank officials might have to face during bank merger and acquisition.

Recruitment Issues - Sometimes, job restructuring or employee cutoffs is a condition for the community bank merger & acquisition process. On few occasions, restructured or laid off employees will pursue legal proceeding to resolve the matter. Additionally, the shareholders may raise voice against the succession planning by the management.

However, the bank authorities can manage to overcome these issues successfully with the guidance and advice of an M & A advisor.