VCBI Virginia Commerce Bancorp (MM)

On December 29, 2005, Virginia Commerce Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq:VCBI), announced that its Board of Directors has approved the accelerated vesting of all outstanding unvested stock options ("Options") awarded to employees, officers and directors on or before December 15, 2005, under its stock option plan. The effective date of the accelerated vesting is December 30, 2005. Options covering 372,520 shares of the Company's common stock will be affected by this action, including shares that are held by the Company's executive officers and directors. By accelerating the vesting of these Options, the Company estimates that approximately $2.3 million of future compensation expense, net of taxes, will be eliminated, of which $765 thousand would have been incurred in the year ending December 31, 2006. Furthermore, the Company will record a one-time, after-tax charge in the fourth quarter of 2005 of $160,726 due to this event. The decision to accelerate the vesting of the Options, which the Company believes is in the best interests of its stockholders, was made primarily to reduce the impact of recording non-cash compensation expense upon the implementation of Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 123 (revised 2004), "Share-Based Payment" ("SFAS 123R"), starting January 1, 2006. SFAS 123R requires all share-based payments to employees, officers and directors, including grants of employee stock options, to be recognized as compensation expense in the Company's financial statements over the vesting period of each award, based on their fair values at the grant date. The number of shares, exercise prices and all of the other relevant terms and conditions applicable to the accelerated Options will remain unchanged. Virginia Commerce Bancorp, Inc. is the parent bank holding company for Virginia Commerce Bank (the "Bank"), a Virginia state chartered bank that commenced operations in May 1988. The Bank pursues a traditional community banking strategy, offering a full range of business and consumer banking services through eighteen branch offices, two residential mortgage offices and one investment services office, principally to individuals and small to medium-size businesses in Northern Virginia and the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.