$700-million bank bailout plan

"We have survived two world wars, the Great Depression, the savings-and-loan crisis and several stock market crashes, and we will survive and prosper during the current crisis," says Kevin J. Lynch, chairman, CEO and president of the institution, in a statement. "Oritani Bank has persevered because we are a prudently managed, well-capitalized, rock-solid community bank. We have more than three times the capital that is required by bank regulators, twice the capital of most of our competitors and we have never originated or held a sub-prime mortgage loan."Lynch continues, "We are consistently rated as more profitable and more efficient than our peers, as indicated in peer group comparisons issued by the FDIC and bank research groups." There are a fair number of banks in New Jersey applying for funding from the Asset Relief Program's capital purchase program, explains Lynch, "Oritani Bank will not be one of them. Our capital base fully supports our growth plans and provides strong support for our lending operations."

Oritani Bank currently has more than $1.5 billion in assets and is a publicly held mutual holding company trading on the NASDAQ. The company has 21 branch locations in Northern New Jersey's Bergen, Hudson and Passaic counties, offering deposit and loan services to both retail and commercial customers.