Vernon W. Hill 2nd, the founder and former chairman of Commerce Bancorp Inc., disclosed last week that he voted against the Cherry Hill, N.J., company's deal to sell itself to Toronto-Dominion Bank.
"The magic of Commerce and the bond among its incredible team members and customers will soon begin to slowly fade away," Mr. Hill wrote last week on the Web site bankstocks.com. Toronto-Dominion "is a perfectly fine and respectable bank," he wrote. "But as I hear about Toronto-Dominion's early moves to trim a little here and cut back a little there, it seems clear that the company has already begun to chip away at the Commerce magic."
After the deal was disclosed in October, he had said it was a good one, but he wrote on bankstocks.com that he voted no at Commerce's shareholder meeting Wednesday. The shareholders approved the deal. Mr. Hill was forced out as the chairman and chief executive in July under regulatory pressure, but he remained one of the company's largest investors. Two weeks ago he became a co-chairman of bankstocks.com, a site owned by the hedge fund firm Second Curve Capital LLC. He is also a contributor to American Banker's Viewpoints section.
A spokesman for Toronto-Dominion would not discuss the matter. Commerce did not return a phone call seeking comment.
