For most of our history until 2018, Bank First was privately held, meaning that our stock was not publicly traded. As such, when new shares were issued, they were not registered with the SEC and consequently had a trading restriction
placed on them. In order to sell shares bearing such a restriction, the owner of the certificated shares has to have the restriction removed and the shares need to be converted to book entry (electronic form).
Even though Bank First is now publicly traded, owners of the original paper certificate must have the restriction removed in order to trade their shares, as they acquired the certificate at a time when Bank First was not publicly
traded.
How to Lift the Restriction
To lift the restriction on your certificate, you will need to obtain a legal opinion from Bank First granting Computershare authorization to remove the restrictive legend on all shares. To obtain the legal opinion, please contact Bank
First Shareholder Services at IR@bankfirstwi.bank or 920-652-3360. Please ensure you have the original stock certificate on hand, as you cannot lift the restriction without your original
certificate.
Once you obtain the legal opinion from Bank First, you must then mail the following to Computershare at P.O. Box 505000, Louisville, KY 40233-5000:
- Original Stock Certificate(s)*
- Legal Opinion from Bank First
- Cover Letter from Bank First instructing Computershare to lift the restrictive legend and convert the shares to book entry
*Stock certificates must be original. Copies will not be accepted. There are no exceptions. If you cannot locate your original stock certificate(s), see below.
Trading Your Shares
Once the shares are electronic, you will receive a confirmation letter in the mail from Computershare. At that time, you can then trade them by working directly with a broker. While Computershare will hold your shares electronically,
you cannot trade them through Computershare – you must hire a broker to pull the shares from Computershare.