OCC proposes updating rules on bank mergers

The OCC issued a proposed rule to update its rules for business combinations involving national banks and federal savings associations and to clarify how it reviews applications under the Bank Merger Act.

Regulatory Amendments: To reflect the OCC’s view that a business combination is a significant corporate transaction, the agency proposed two substantive changes to its business combination regulation:

• Removing expedited review procedures that allow certain filings to be deemed approved as of the 15th day after the close of the comment period.

• Removing a section that specifies four situations in which an applicant may use the OCC’s streamlined business combination application rather than the full interagency Bank Merger Act application.

Policy Statement: The OCC also proposed a policy statement that would outline:

• General principles the agency uses in reviewing applications under the Bank Merger Act.

• How it considers various statutory factors under the BMA.

• Its decision process for extending the public comment period or holding a public meeting.

Hsu Remarks: Addressing the University of Michigan School of Business, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu said the changes—which the OCC summarized in an overview document—would help the agency support a “diverse and dynamic” banking system. He also said his agency plans to post data on bank mergers subject to OCC review in a publicly accessible format on its website.

Submitting Comments: ICBA is reviewing the proposal and will submit comments ahead of the deadline, which is 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

ICBA Advocacy: ICBA has repeatedly urged regulators to consider competition from credit unions and other nonbank institutions as they reconsider policies on bank mergers, including in comment letters to the FDIC and to the Justice Department. It previously called on the DOJ to revise its policies on bank mergers to better address too-big-to-fail financial institutions and nonbank competitors.