Acquisition of bank shares or assets

It shall be unlawful, except with the prior approval of the Board, (1) for any action to be taken that causes any company to become a bank holding company; (2) for any action to be taken that causes a bank to become a subsidiary of a bank holding company; (3) for any bank holding company to acquire direct or indirect ownership or control of any voting shares of any bank if, after such acquisition, such company will directly or indirectly own or control more than 5 per centum of the voting shares of such bank; (4) for any bank holding company or subsidiary thereof, other than a bank, to acquire all or substantially all of the assets of a bank; or (5) for any bank holding company to merge or consolidate with any other bank holding company. Notwithstanding the foregoing this prohibition shall not apply to (A) shares acquired by a bank, (i) in good faith in a fiduciary capacity, except where such shares are held under a trust that constitutes a company as defined in section 1841(b) of this title and except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 1841(g) of this title, or (ii) in the regular course of securing or collecting a debt previously contracted in good faith, but any shares acquired after May 9, 1956, in securing or collecting any such previously contracted debt shall be disposed of within a period of two years from the date on which they were acquired; (B) additional shares acquired by a bank holding company in a bank in which such bank holding company owned or controlled a majority of the voting shares prior to such acquisition; or (C) the acquisition, by a company, of control of a bank in a reorganization in which a person or group of persons exchanges their shares of the bank for shares of a newly formed bank holding company and receives after the reorganization substantially the same proportional share interest in the holding company as they held in the bank except for changes in shareholders’ interests resulting from the exercise of dissenting shareholders’ rights under State or Federal law if— immediately following the acquisition— Upon receiving from a company any application for approval under this section, the Board shall give notice to the Comptroller of the Currency, if the applicant company or any bank the voting shares or assets of which are sought to be required 22 So in original. Probably should be “acquired”. is a national banking association, or to the appropriate supervisory authority of the interested State, if the applicant company or any bank the voting shares or assets of which are sought to be acquired is a State bank, in order to provide for the submission of the views and recommendations of the Comptroller of the Currency or the State supervisory authority, as the case may be. The views and recommendations shall be submitted within thirty calendar days of the date on which notice is given, or within ten calendar days of such date if the Board advises the Comptroller of the Currency or the State supervisory authority that an emergency exists requiring expeditious action. If the thirty-day notice period applies and if the Comptroller of the Currency or the State supervisory authority so notified by the Board disapproves the application in writing within this period, the Board shall forthwith give written notice of that fact to the applicant. Within three days after giving such notice to the applicant, the Board shall notify in writing the applicant and the disapproving authority of the date for commencement of a hearing by it on such application. Any such hearing shall be commenced not less than ten nor more than thirty days after the Board has given written notice to the applicant of the action of the disapproving authority. The length of any such hearing shall be determined by the Board, but it shall afford all interested parties a reasonable opportunity to testify at such hearing. At the conclusion thereof, the Board shall, by order, grant or deny the application on the basis of the record made at such hearing. In the event of the failure of the Board to act on any application for approval under this section within the ninety-one-day period which begins on the date of submission to the Board of the complete record on that application, the application shall be deemed to have been granted. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, if the Board finds that it must act immediately on any application for approval under this section in order to prevent the probable failure of a bank or bank holding company involved in a proposed acquisition, merger, or consolidation transaction, the Board may dispense with the notice requirements of this subsection, and if notice is given, the Board may request that the views and recommendations of the Comptroller of the Currency or the State supervisory authority, as the case may be, be submitted immediately in any form or by any means acceptable to the Board. If the Board has found pursuant to this subsection either that an emergency exists requiring expeditious action or that it must act immediately to prevent probable failure, the Board may grant or deny any such application without a hearing notwithstanding any recommended disapproval by the appropriate supervisory authority. If the Board receives a certification described in section 1823(f)(8)(D) 33 See References in Text note below. of this title from the appropriate Federal or State chartering authority that a bank is in danger of closing, the Board may dispense with the notice and hearing requirements of paragraph (1) with respect to any application received by the Board relating to the acquisition of such bank, the bank holding company which controls such bank, or any other affiliated bank. The Board shall not approve— In every case, the Board shall take into consideration the financial and managerial resources and future prospects of the company or companies and the banks concerned, and the convenience and needs of the community to be served. The Board shall disapprove any application under this section by any company if— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Board shall not follow any practice or policy in the consideration of any application for the formation of a one-bank holding company if following such practice or policy would result in the rejection of such application solely because the transaction to form such one-bank holding company involves a bank stock loan which is for a period of not more than twenty-five years. The previous sentence shall not be construed to prohibit the Board from rejecting any application solely because the other financial arrangements are considered unsatisfactory. The Board shall consider transactions involving bank stock loans for the formation of a one-bank holding company having a maturity of twelve years or more on a case by case basis and no such transaction shall be approved if the Board believes the safety or soundness of the bank may be jeopardized. Consideration of the managerial resources of a company or bank under paragraph (2) shall include consideration of the competence, experience, and integrity of the officers, directors, and principal shareholders of the company or bank. In every case, the Board shall take into consideration the effectiveness of the company or companies in combatting money laundering activities, including in overseas branches. In every case, the Board shall take into consideration the extent to which a proposed acquisition, merger, or consolidation would result in greater or more concentrated risks to the stability of the United States banking or financial system. The Board may approve an application under this section by a bank holding company that is well capitalized and well managed to acquire control of, or acquire all or substantially all of the assets of, a bank located in a State other than the home State of such bank holding company, without regard to whether such transaction is prohibited under the law of any State. Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the Board may not approve an application pursuant to such subparagraph that would have the effect of permitting an out-of-State bank holding company to acquire a bank in a host State that has not been in existence for the minimum period of time, if any, specified in the statutory law of the host State. Notwithstanding clause (i), the Board may approve, pursuant to subparagraph (A), the acquisition of a bank that has been in existence for at least 5 years without regard to any longer minimum period of time specified in a statutory law of the host State. For purposes of this subsection, a bank that has been chartered solely for the purpose of, and does not open for business prior to, acquiring control of, or acquiring all or substantially all of the assets of, an existing bank shall be deemed to have been in existence for the same period of time as the bank to be acquired. No provision of this subsection shall be construed as affecting the applicability of a State law that makes an acquisition of a bank contingent upon a requirement to hold a portion of such bank’s assets available for call by a State-sponsored housing entity established pursuant to State law, if— The Board may not approve an application pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) if the applicant (including all insured depository institutions which are affiliates of the applicant) controls, or upon consummation of the acquisition for which such application is filed would control, more than 10 percent of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in the United States. The Board may not approve an application pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) if— No provision of this subsection shall be construed as affecting the authority of any State to limit, by statute, regulation, or order, the percentage of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in the State which may be held or controlled by any bank or bank holding company (including all insured depository institutions which are affiliates of the bank or bank holding company) to the extent the application of such limitation does not discriminate against out-of-State banks, out-of-State bank holding companies, or subsidiaries of such banks or holding companies. The Board may approve an application pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) without regard to the applicability of subparagraph (B) with respect to any State if— For purposes of this paragraph, the term “deposit” has the same meaning as in section 1813(l) of this title. In determining whether to approve an application under paragraph (1)(A), the Board shall— No provision of this subsection shall be construed as affecting— The Board may approve an application pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) which involves— Every bank that is a holding company and every bank that is a subsidiary of such a company shall become and remain an insured depository institution as defined in section 1813 of this title. Notwithstanding any provision of Federal law other than this chapter, a savings bank or cooperative bank operating in mutual form may reorganize so as to form a holding company. A bank holding company organized as a mutual holding company shall be regulated on terms, and shall be subject to limitations, comparable to those applicable to any other bank holding company.