EXHIBIT 99.2
Safe Harbor Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act")
provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements to encourage companies
to provide prospective information about their companies, so long as those
statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful
cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those discussed in the statement. Peoples
Financial Corporation ("PFC") desires to take advantage of the "safe harbor"
provisions of the Act. Certain information, particularly information regarding
future economic performance and finances and plans and objectives of management,
contained or incorporated by reference in PFC's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for
fiscal year 2000 is forward-looking. In some cases, information regarding
certain important factors that could cause actual results of operations or
outcomes of other events to differ materially from any such forward-looking
statement appear together with such statement. In addition, forward-looking
statements are subject to other risks and uncertainties affecting the financial
institutions industry, including, but not limited to, the following:
Interest Rate Risk
PFC's operating results are dependent to a significant degree on its
net interest income, which is the difference between interest income from loans
and investments and interest expense on deposits and borrowings. The interest
income and interest expense of PFC change as the interest rates on mortgages,
securities and other assets and on deposits and other liabilities change.
Interest rates may change because of general economic conditions, the policies
of various regulatory authorities and other factors beyond PFC's control. The
interest rates on specific assets and liabilities of PFC will change or
"reprice" in accordance with the contractual terms of the asset or liability
instrument and in accordance with customer reaction to general economic trends.
In a rising interest rate environment, loans tend to prepay slowly and new loans
at higher rates increase slowly, while interest paid on deposits increases
rapidly because the terms to maturity of deposits tend to be shorter than the
terms to maturity or prepayment of loans. Such differences in the adjustment of
interest rates on assets and liabilities may negatively affect PFC's income.
Moreover, rising interest rates tend to decrease loan demand in general,
negatively affecting PFC's income.
Possible Inadequacy of the Allowance for Loan Losses
Peoples Federal Savings and Loan Association of Massillon ("Peoples
Federal") maintains an allowance for loan losses based upon a number of relevant
factors, including, but not limited to, trends in the level of nonperforming
assets and classified loans, current and anticipated economic conditions in the
primary lending area, past loss experience, possible losses arising from
specific problem assets and changes in the composition of the loan portfolio.
While the Board of Directors of Peoples Federal believes that it uses the best
information available to determine the allowance for loan losses, unforeseen
market conditions could result in material adjustments, and net earnings could
be significantly adversely affected if circumstances differ substantially from
the assumptions used in making the final determination.
Loans not secured by one- to four-family residential real estate are
generally considered to involve greater risk of loss than loans secured by one-
to four-family residential real estate due, in part, to the effects of general
economic conditions. The repayment of multifamily residential and nonresidential
real estate loans generally depends upon the cash flow from the operation of the
property, which may be negatively affected by national and local economic
conditions that cause leases not to be renewed or that negatively affect the
operations of a commercial borrower. Construction loans may also be negatively
affected by such economic conditions, particularly loans made to developers who
do not have a buyer for a property before the loan is made. The risk of default
on consumer loans increases during periods of recession, high unemployment and
other adverse economic conditions. When consumers have trouble paying their
bills, they are more likely to pay mortgage loans than consumer loans, and the
collateral securing such loans, if any, may decrease in value more rapidly than
the outstanding balance of the loan.
<PAGE>
Competition
Peoples Federal competes for deposits with other savings associations,
commercial banks and credit unions and issuers of commercial paper and other
securities, such as shares in money market mutual funds. The primary factors in
competing for deposits are interest rates and convenience of office location. In
making loans, Peoples Federal competes with other savings associations,
commercial banks, consumer finance companies, credit unions, leasing companies,
mortgage companies and other lenders. Competition is affected by, among other
things, the general availability of lendable funds, general and local economic
conditions, current interest rate levels and other factors which are not readily
predictable. The size of financial institutions competing with Peoples Federal
is likely to increase as a result of changes in statutes and regulations
eliminating various restrictions on interstate and inter-industry branching and
acquisitions. Such increased competition may have an adverse effect upon PFC.
Legislation and Regulation that may Adversely Affect PFC's Earnings
Peoples Federal is subject to extensive regulation by the Office of
Thrift Supervision (the "OTS") and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(the "FDIC") and is periodically examined by such regulatory agencies to test
compliance with various regulatory requirements. As a savings and loan holding
company, PFC is also subject to regulation and examination by the OTS. Such
supervision and regulation of Peoples Federal and PFC are intended primarily for
the protection of depositors and not for the maximization of shareholder value
and may affect the ability of the company to engage in various business
activities. The assessments, filing fees and other costs associated with
reports, examinations and other regulatory matters are significant and may have
an adverse effect on the PFC's net earnings.
The FDIC is authorized to establish separate annual assessment rates
for deposit insurance of members of the Bank Insurance fund (the "BIF") and the
Savings Association Insurance Fund (the "SAIF"). The FDIC may increase
assessment rates for either fund if necessary to restore the fund's ratio of
reserves to insured deposits to the target level within a reasonable time and
may decrease such rates if such target level has been met. The FDIC has
established a risk-based assessment system for both SAIF and BIF members. Under
such system, assessments may vary depending on the risk the institution poses to
its deposit insurance fund. Such risk level is determined by reference to the
institution's capital level and the FDIC's level of supervisory concern about
the institution.
On November 12, 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (the "GLB Act") was
enacted into law. The GLB Act makes sweeping changes in the financial services
in which various types of financial institutions may engage. The Glass-Steagall
Act, which had generally prevented banks from affiliating with securities and
insurance firms, was repealed. A new "financial holding company," which owns
only well capitalized and well managed depository institutions, will be
permitted to engage in a variety of financial activities, including insurance
and securities underwriting and agency activities.
The GLB Act permits unitary savings and loan holding companies in
existence on May 4, 1999, including PFC, to continue to engage in all activities
that they were permitted to engage in prior to the enactment of the Act. Such
activities are essentially unlimited, provided that the thrift subsidiary
remains a qualified thrift lender. Any thrift holding company formed after May
4, 1999, will be subject to the same restrictions as a multiple thrift holding
company. In addition, a unitary thrift holding company in existence on May 4,
1999, may be sold only to a financial holding company engaged in activities
permissible for multiple savings and loan holding companies.
The GLB Act is not expected to have a material effect on the activities
in which PFC and Peoples Federal currently engage, except to the extent that
competition with other types of financial institutions may increase as they
engage in activities not permitted prior to enactment of the GLB Act.
