§ 545.93 - Application and notice requirements for branch and home offices.

§ 545.93 Application and notice requirements for branch and home offices.

(a) Application and notice requirements. A Federal savings association (“you”) must file an application or notice and receive OTS approval or non-objection under § 545.95 before you change the permanent location of, or establish a new, home or branch office, except as provided in this section.

(b) Exceptions. You are not required to submit an application or notice and receive OTS approval or non-objection under § 545.95 under the following circumstances:

(1) Drive-in or pedestrian offices. You may establish a drive-in or pedestrian office that is located within 500 feet of a public entrance to your existing home or branch office, provided the functions performed at the office are limited to functions that are ordinarily performed at a teller window.

(2) Short-distance relocation. You may change the permanent location of an existing home or branch office to a site that is within the market area and short-distance location area of the existing home or branch office. The short-distance relocation area of an existing office is the area that is within:

(i) A 1000-foot radius of an existing office that is within a Principal City in a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) designated by the U.S. Department of Commerce;

(ii) A one-mile radius of an existing office that is within an MSA, but is not within a Principal City; or

(iii) A two-mile radius of an existing office that is not in an MSA.

(3) Highly-rated Federal savings associations. You may change the permanent location of, or establish a new, branch or home office if you meet all of the following requirements:

(i) You are eligible for expedited treatment under § 516.5 of this chapter. For the purposes of that section, you must meet the capital requirements under part 567 of this chapter before and immediately after you change the location of your home or branch office or establish a new branch office.

(ii) You published a notice of your intent to change the location of your home or branch office or establish a new branch office. To satisfy this publication requirement, you must follow the procedures in subpart B of part 516 of this chapter except that:

(A) Under § 516.55(d) and (e) of this chapter, your public notice must state that the public may submit comments to you and to the appropriate OTS office(s), and must provide addresses for you and for the appropriate OTS office(s) where the public may submit comments;

(B) Section 516.55(g) of this chapter, which addresses public inspections of filings with OTS, does not apply; and

(C) Under § 516.60 of this chapter, you must publish the public notice at least 35 days before you take the proposed action. If you publish a public notice more than 12 months before you take the proposed action, the publication is invalid.

(iii) If you intend to change the location of an existing office, you posted a notice of your intent in a prominent location in the existing office to be relocated. You must post the notice for 30 days from the date of publication of the initial public notice described in paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section.

(iv)

(A) No person files a comment opposing the proposed action within 30 days after the date of the publication of the proposed notice, or

(B) A person files a comment opposing the proposed action and OTS determines that the comment raises issues that are not relevant to the approval standards in § 545.95(b) of this chapter or that OTS action in response to the comment is not required.

(4) Re-designations of home and branch offices. You may re-designate an existing branch office as a home office at the same time that you re-designate your existing home office as a branch office.

(c) Section 5(m) of the HOLA. If you are incorporated under the laws of, organized in, or do business in the District of Columbia and you satisfy the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section, the Director of OTS has approved your home or branch office changes under section 5(m) of the HOLA.

(d) Maintenance of branch and home office following conversion, consolidation, purchase of bulk assets, merger, or purchase from receiver. An existing savings association that converts to a federal savings association may maintain an existing office and a federal savings association may maintain any office acquired through consolidation, purchase of bulk assets, merger or purchase from the receiver of an association, except to the extent that the approval of the conversion, consolidation, merger, or purchase specifies otherwise.

(e) Prohibition. You may not file an application or notice (or utilize any exception described in paragraph (b) of this section) to establish a branch office, if you filed an application to merge or otherwise surrender your charter and the application has been pending for less than six months.

[69 FR 68248, Nov. 24, 2004, as amended at 70 FR 51586, Aug. 31, 2005]