[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 190 (Friday, October 1, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53188-53189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25504]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
12 CFR Part 262
[Docket No. R-1045]
Rules of Procedure
AGENCY: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Board is amending its Rules of Procedure to conform the
comment period for branch notice applications with the period specified
in its Regulation H, Membership of State Banking Institutions in the
Federal Reserve System. The Rules of Procedure were not amended when
the Regulation was amended, effective September 30, 1998. The Board is
also amending the Rules of Procedure to delete the requirements for
notices of memberships in cases where membership would confer federal
deposit insurance, because there are no longer cases where membership
confers federal deposit insurance. In addition, the Board is amending
the Rules of Procedure to clarify that the requirement to publish
notice in the community where a proposed branch would be located does
not apply to branch applications incidental to merger applications,
which are subject to the separate notice requirements for merger
applications.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Heyke, Counsel, Legal Division,
(202) 452-3688. For users of the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf
(TDD), contact Diane Jenkins (202) 452-3544, Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System, 20th and C Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20551.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 208.6(a)(3) of the Board's Regulation H, Public Notice of
Branch Applications, provides that a state member bank wishing to
establish a domestic branch must publish notice in a newspaper of
general circulation at the locations specified in Sec. 262.3 of the
Rules of Procedure (12 CFR 262.3) and that the newspaper notice shall
provide an opportunity for interested persons to comment on the
application for a period of at least 15 days. (12 CFR 208.6(a)(3)(i)
and (ii)). Until September 30, 1998, the comment period for branch
applications was 30 days and was specified in Sec. 262.3(b) of the
Rules of Procedure rather than in Regulation H. The Rules of Procedure
were not amended when the regulation was amended, effective September
30, 1998 (63 FR 37637, July 13, 1998), and Sec. 262.3(b)(1)(ii)
continues to provide for a 30-day comment period for these
applications. (12 CFR 262.3(b)(1)(ii)). It is no longer necessary to
specify the comment period for branch applications in the Rules of
Procedure since it is specified in Regulation H. Accordingly, the Board
is amending the Rules of Procedure to delete the comment period
requirement as it relates to branch applications.
Section 262.3(b)(1)(ii)(A) of the Rules of Procedure specifies the
location for publication of notice of an application for membership in
the Federal Reserve System that would confer federal deposit insurance.
Pursuant to Title I, section 115(a) of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (Pub. L. 102-242), any bank not
previously an insured bank admitted to membership may apply separately
to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for insurance. (12 U.S.C.
1814 and 1815(a).) Previously, membership conferred insured status (see
12 U.S.C.A. 1814(b) (West 1989)). It is therefore no longer necessary
to specify the location for publication of notice of an application for
membership that would confer insurance. Accordingly, the Board is
amending the Rules of Procedure to delete the publication location
requirement for such applications.
Section 262.3(b)(1)(ii)(B) specifies that in the case of an
application to establish a new branch, notices shall be published in
the communities in which the head office of the bank and the proposed
branch are located. Section 262.3(b)(1)(ii)(D) specifies that in the
case of an application by a bank for merger, consolidation, acquisition
of assets, or assumption of liabilities (merger), notices shall be
published in the communities in which the head offices of the banks
involved are located. Such merger applications are also deemed to
include applications to establish branches at the branch and/or head
office locations being acquired, thereby avoiding a separate filing to
establish branches at the acquired locations, and the Board has not
required publication under paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(B) in addition to
publication under paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(D). Accordingly, the Board is
amending the Rules of Procedure to clarify that publication under
paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(D) is sufficient in the case of branches acquired
through merger, consolidation, acquisition of assets, or assumption of
liabilities.
The amendments adopted by the Board are rules of procedure.
Accordingly, 5 U.S.C. 553(b), requiring public comment, does not apply.
In addition, the amendments are technical amendments that remove an
obsolete provision, reflect changes in the Board's Regulation H, and
clarify a possible uncertainty. Accordingly, the Board finds good cause
not to delay the effective date of the amendments pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
553(d).
List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 262
Administrative practice and procedure, Banks, banking, Federal
Reserve System.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 12 CFR part 262 is
amended as set forth below:
PART 262--RULES OF PROCEDURE
1.The authority citation for 12 CFR part 262 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552, 12 U.S.C. 321, 1828(c), and 1842.
Sec. 262.3 [Amended]
2. Amend Sec. 262.3 by revising the first sentence in paragraph
(b)(1)(ii),
[[Page 53189]]
removing and reserving paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(A), and revising paragraph
(b)(1)(ii)(B) to read as follows:
Sec. 262.3 Applications.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(ii) The notice shall be placed in the classified advertising legal
notices section of the newspaper, and must provide an opportunity for
the public to give written comment on the application to the
appropriate Federal Reserve Bank for the period specified in Regulation
H (12 CFR part 208) in the case of applications specified in
Sec. 262.3(b)(1)(i)(A), and for at least thirty days after the date of
publication in the case of applications specified in
Sec. 262.3(b)(1)(i)(B) and (C).* * *
* * * * *
(B) The community or communities in which the head office of the
bank and the proposed branch or other facility (other than an
electronic funds transfer facility) are located in the case of an
application for the establishment of a domestic branch or other
facility that would be authorized to receive deposits, other than an
application incidental to an application by a bank for merger,
consolidation, or acquisition of assets or assumption of liabilities,
* * * * *
By order of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, September 24, 1999.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 99-25504 Filed 9-30-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-P
