First Place has till Nov. 10 to file

Staff report

WARREN

First Place Financial Corp. will remain on the Nasdaq stock exchange through at least Nov. 10.

The Nasdaq Office of General Counsel on Tuesday granted the corporation, whose subsidiary is First Place Bank, an extension to submit its delinquent filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

If First Place does not file by Nov. 10, Nasdaq will delist the company’s shares, which first appeared on the open market Jan. 4, 1999.

Unless the Listing and Hearings Review Council issues a stay, Nasdaq then will suspend trading of the company’s shares on the second business day after the delistment determination.

“We are pleased with Nasdaq’s approval of the company’s continued listing, and we are committed in our efforts to regain compliance with the Nasdaq market rules,” said Steven Lewis, president and CEO of First Place, in a release.

“We believe we will be able to issue our restated financial statements for 2010 and 2009, as well as our financial statements for the current year in accordance with the panel’s time line.”

The news comes two weeks after First Place consented to a cease-and- desist order from the Office of Thrift Supervision, which restricts the corporation’s ability to raise the capital needed to cover the bank’s potential loan losses.

First Place shares fell 8 cents Tuesday and closed at 82 cents per share.