00-5463. Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies

The companies listed in this notice have applied to the Board for approval, pursuant to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) (BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR Part 225), and all other applicable statutes and regulations to become a bank holding company and/or to acquire the assets or the ownership of, control of, or the power to vote shares of a bank or bank holding company and all of the banks and nonbanking companies owned by the bank holding company, including the companies listed below.

The applications listed below, as well as other related filings required by the Board, are available for immediate inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The application also will be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing on the standards enumerated in the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the proposal also involves the acquisition of a nonbanking company, the review also includes whether the acquisition of the nonbanking company complies with the standards in section 4 of the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise noted, nonbanking activities will be conducted throughout the United States. Additional information on all bank holding companies may be obtained from the National Information Center website at www.ffiec.gov/​nic/​.

Unless otherwise noted, comments regarding each of these applications must be received at the Reserve Bank indicated or the offices of the Board of Governors not later than March 31, 2000.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (Lois Berthaume, Vice President) 104 Marietta Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-2713:

1. First Sterling Banks, Inc., Kennesaw, Georgia; to merge with Main Street Banks, Incorporated, Covington, Georgia, and thereby indirectly acquire Main Street Bank, Covington, Georgia.

B. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (Randall C. Sumner, Vice President) 411 Locust Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-2034:

1. Home Bancshares, Inc., Conway, Arkansas, and its subsidiary, North Little Rock Bancshares, Inc., Conway, Arkansas; to acquire 100 percent of the voting shares of First Western Bank and Trust Company, Rogers, Arkansas. North Little Rock Bancshares, Inc., also has applied to become a bank holding company.

C. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (Phillip Jackson, Applications Officer) 230 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60690-1414:

1. Oswego Community Bank Employee Stock Ownership Plan, Oswego, Illinois; to become a bank holding company by retaining shares and acquiring up to 30 percent of the voting shares of Oswego Bancshares, Inc., Oswego, Illinois, and thereby indirectly acquire additional voting shares of Oswego Community Bank, Oswego, Illinois.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 1, 2000.

Robert deV. Frierson,

Associate Secretary of the Board.