The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is seeking feedback on a proposal to update its rules for business combinations involving national banks and federal savings associations.
In addition, the proposal includes a policy statement to clarify the OCC’s review of applications under the Bank Merger Act (BMA). It is part of the OCC’s effort to enhance transparency around its process of reviewing transactions under the BMA. Further, it would provide additional guidance to stakeholders around the OCC’s review of applications.
More specifically, the proposed policy statement specifically would discuss:
• General principles for the OCC’s review of applications under the BMA, including indicators for applications likely consistent with approval and applications that raise supervisory or regulatory concerns;
• The OCC’s consideration of the financial stability; managerial and financial resources and future prospects; and convenience and needs statutory factors under the BMA; and
• The OCC’s decision process for extending the public comment period or holding a public meeting.
“This notice of proposed rulemaking follows the OCC’s comprehensive review of bank merger policy and regulations that included a public Symposium on Bank Mergers in February 2023,” Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu said. “The OCC continues to work with our interagency peers to update our analytical frameworks to best improve bank merger outcomes to benefit communities, enhance competition, and support a diverse banking system and looks forward to reviewing comments on the proposal.”
Comments are due 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.
The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) was among those to weigh in on the proposal, citing several concerns with it in a statement.
“Missing from the Acting Comptroller’s remarks and related regulatory proposal was any mention of how today’s lengthy, opaque and uncertain supervisory review process discourages banks from even contemplating a potential merger in the first place. And remarkably, today’s action seems to be headed in an even more problematic direction: it would eliminate existing regulatory provisions intended to allow for expedited decision-making for routine and noncontroversial transactions, including internal business reorganizations,” BPI President and CEO Greg Baer said.