I think I remember that. Was it about 2 (maybe 3) years ago? And went for something in the .20s when it had been trading in the .50s? I'm sitting on my shares at around $0.038
What that bank official told you was completely right. Market value and book value are two different animals.
D & O of either the selling or the buying institution can at a minimum be heavily fined or at a maximum pay steep penalties and do jail time if the transaction varies too much from book value.
Small banks today on average are acquired for between 1 X BV ~ 1.7 X BV. Anything outside of that higher or lower will land D & O in hot water.
Mr. Market doesn't set bank acquisition prices. Value does.
Marker: First Sound Bank (se (FSWA) 0.071 0.0 (0.00%) Volume: 0