schreef:
Unidentified Analyst
Yes. Good morning, Mr. Sloane. I'm a stockholder. So let me just ask you some simple questions. Basically, I purchased the stock for the dividend. I understand the dividend is going to be adjusted downward. But where would you see the dividend being in a year from now compared to where it is now?
Barry Sloane
Thank you. And I appreciate the question. And look, I want to be clear to everybody on the call. We know it's great questions. We don't filter them. I can tell, we take them all. And we try to be transparent. We've been doing this for two decades. And I appreciate everyone that's invested in the company. I think we've historically done a good job for shareholders.
I think from your perspective, you bought the stock for the dividend. We went through a process of soliciting votes. We got 89% of the vote to withdraw our election as a BDC. So obviously, a majority of the stockholders believe it was our best interest to ultimately buy the bank, convert to a bank holding company withdraw. Now the bank currently does not exist. The bank should exist or anticipated in January, then it's real. The only party that can actually declare a dividend is the bank Board. I can't. I've given the market a sense that we will think about paying a dividend that's equivalent to the higher end of the range of bank holding companies that are similar.
But I say that it's December 14 by the time the deal closes, and this gets declared and – we're going to have a conversation with the Board. It would be imprudent for me and totally inappropriate for me to put a number on this because I can't declare it. I have a sense of things, and I've tried to give that. So that's kind of what I've said. And I think that because we've been that transparent almost from the beginning, investors that – solely only wanted to get the dividend – only. They've exited. And we believe that the total return will benefit in the current structure, which is why; A, management and the Board thought it was good to buy the bank while it went out and got an 89% vote and why we've done the transaction.
So I certainly understand your frustration. Look, in the event that you believe in management and that they're right – now you also understand you've got this transformation of shareholders, you've got a bear market, you've got financials being bad, you've got rates going up 4%. So I mean if you want to blame me for the stock price solely and nothing else, you can do that. But I think my point is we would like – we've likely indicated to the market, and it's only an indication, that the company will have a dividend. I'm being very clear, the only party that can declare that dividend is the bank Board. By the way, it's easier for me to say that today because now, I believe that we project it to the regulators in our plan that that's part of our plan. So I feel better about it today than I did down the road. That's why people wanted more certainty. It's like, how do you have certainty when you know your plan isn't approved? So this isn't easy to do. Anyway, we're trying as best as we can. I appreciate your question. Did I answer it for you?
Unidentified Analyst
Yes. I understand what you said, and I understand the dividend is going down, but as the stockholder, I'm going to stick with you guys for a while because I understand we're going to go to growth mode, but I still like growth as well as the dividend. So you did answer my question.
Barry Sloane
And by the way, I want you to know, I love the dividend. You know why?
Unidentified Analyst
Why?
Barry Sloane
Because I own 1 million shares and I get a lot of it.
Unidentified Analyst
There you go.
Barry Sloane
I don't know why people can't understand that. I mean management owns 5.5% of the – I get those dividends. I love those dividends.