What Is a Bank Tear Sheet?

A bank tear sheet is a document that provides an informational snapshot of the bank and its operations, covering a specific period of time. The information on the tear sheet provides shareholders and other interested parties with data about stock performance, a brief company history and other information for the included period of time.

A bank tear sheet starts with a brief history of the banking institution. This often includes information on when and where the bank was founded, as well as its current location and any branches. Additional information can include its mission statement, mergers or acquisitions in which the bank was involved, an explanation of the bank's business strategy, plans for the immediate future and a brief summation of the bank's performance for a specified period.

A section of the tear sheet is generally devoted to stock information, including its trading name, ticker symbol, the exchange on which the stock is traded, the number of shares outstanding, the current stock selling price, the stock's low price during the previous 12-month period and the change in stock value for a specified period of time, usually a quarter. A performance chart also is included to add a visual guide for the stock's performance for a specific period of time.

Another section deals with scheduled events, and includes any important information that the bank released since the previous tear sheet, such as stock dividend announcements, quarterly performance reports, mergers and acquisitions, and any other newsworthy events is included in this section.

The shareholder section includes a listing of the different types of shares available, such as mutual funds or common stock, a list of shareholders with the most stock and the number of shares each owns. Also included is the change in the amount of shares owned and the most recent filing date for the reporting of stock. This section also can include the names of the bank's board members.