[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 12, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 12CFR208.6]

[Page 185-186]
 
                       TITLE 12--BANKS AND BANKING
 
                   CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
 
PART 208_MEMBERSHIP OF STATE BANKING INSTITUTIONS IN THE FEDERAL RESERVE 
SYSTEM (REGULATION H)--Table of Contents
 
         Subpart A_General Membership and Branching Requirements
 
Sec. 208.6  Establishment and maintenance of branches.

    (a) Branching. (1) To the extent authorized by state law, a member 
bank may establish and maintain branches (including interstate branches) 
subject to the same limitations and restrictions that apply to the 
establishment and maintenance of national bank branches (12 U.S.C. 36 
and 1831u), except that approval of such branches shall be obtained from 
the Board rather than from the Comptroller of the Currency.
    (2) Branch applications. A State member bank wishing to establish a 
branch in the United States or its territories must file an application 
in accordance with the Board's Rules of Procedure, located at 12 CFR 
262.3, and must comply with the public notice and comment rules 
contained in paragraphs (a)(3) and (a)(4) of this section. Branches of 
member banks located in foreign nations, in the overseas territories, 
dependencies, and insular possessions of those nations and of the United 
States, and in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, are subject to the 
Board's Regulation K (12 CFR part 211).
    (3) Public notice of branch applications. (i) Location of 
publication. A State member bank wishing to establish a branch in the 
United States or its territories must publish notice in a newspaper of 
general circulation in the form and at the locations specified in Sec. 
262.3 of the Rules of Procedure (12 CFR 262.3).
    (ii) Contents of notice. The newspaper notice referred to in 
paragraph (a)(3) of this section shall provide an opportunity for 
interested persons to comment on the application for a period of at 
least 15 days.
    (iii) Timing of publication. Each newspaper notice shall be 
published no more than 7 calendar days before and no later than the 
calendar day on which an application is filed with the appropriate 
Reserve Bank.
    (4) Public comment. (i) Timely comments. Interested persons may 
submit information and comments regarding a branch application under 
Sec. 208.6. A comment shall be considered timely for purposes of this 
subpart if the comment, together with all supplemental information, is 
submitted in writing in accordance with the Board's Rules of Procedure 
(12 CFR 262.3) and received by the Board or the appropriate Reserve Bank 
prior to the expiration of the public comment period provided in 
paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this section.
    (ii) Extension of comment period. The Board may, in its discretion, 
extend the public comment period regarding any application under Sec. 
208.6. In the event that an interested person requests a copy of an 
application submitted under Sec. 208.6, the Board may, in its 
discretion and based on the facts and circumstances, grant such person 
an extension of the comment period for up to 15 calendar days.
    (b) Factors considered in approving domestic branch applications. 
Factors given special consideration by the

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Board in passing upon a branch application are:
    (1) Financial condition and management. The financial history and 
condition of the applying bank and the general character of its 
management;
    (2) Capital. The adequacy of the bank's capital in accordance with 
Sec. 208.4, and its future earnings prospects;
    (3) Convenience and needs. The convenience and needs of the 
community to be served by the branch;
    (4) CRA performance. In the case of branches with deposit-taking 
capability, the bank's performance under the Community Reinvestment Act 
(12 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.) and Regulation BB (12 CFR part 228); and
    (5) Investment in bank premises. Whether the bank's investment in 
bank premises in establishing the branch is consistent with Sec. 
208.21.
    (c) Expedited approval for eligible banks and bank holding 
companies. (1) Availability of expedited treatment. The expedited branch 
application procedures described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section are 
available to:
    (i) An eligible bank; and
    (ii) A bank that cannot be determined to be an eligible bank because 
it has not received CAMELS compliance or CRA ratings from a bank 
regulatory authority, if it is controlled by a bank holding company that 
meets the criteria for expedited processing under Sec. 225.14(c) of 
Regulation Y (12 CFR 225.14(c)).
    (2) Expedited procedures. A completed domestic branch application 
filed with the appropriate Reserve Bank will be deemed approved on the 
fifth day after the close of the comment period, unless the Board or the 
appropriate Reserve Bank notifies the bank that the application is 
approved prior to that date (but in no case will an application be 
approved before the third day after the close of the public comment 
period) or the Board or the appropriate Federal Reserve Bank notifies 
the bank that the application is not eligible for expedited review for 
any reason, including, without limitation, that:
    (i) The bank or bank holding company does not meet the criteria 
under Sec. 208.6(c)(1);
    (ii) The application contains a material error or is otherwise 
deficient; or
    (iii) The application or the notice required under paragraph (a)(3) 
of this section, raises significant supervisory, Community Reinvestment 
Act, compliance, policy or legal issues that have not been resolved, or 
a timely substantive adverse comment is submitted. A comment will be 
considered substantive unless it involves individual complaints, or 
raises frivolous, previously considered, or wholly unsubstantiated 
claims or irrelevant issues.
    (d) Consolidated Applications. (1) Proposed branches; notice of 
branch opening. A member bank may seek approval in a single application 
or notice for any branches that it proposes to establish within one year 
after the approval date. The bank shall, unless notification is waived, 
notify the appropriate Reserve Bank not later than 30 days after opening 
any branch approved under a consolidated application. A bank is not 
required to open a branch approved under either a consolidated or single 
branch application.
    (2) Duration of branch approval. Branch approvals remain valid for 
one year unless the Board or the appropriate Reserve Bank notifies the 
bank that in its judgment, based on reports of condition, examinations, 
or other information, there has been a change in the bank's condition, 
financial or otherwise, that warrants reconsideration of the approval.
    (e) Branch closings. A member bank shall comply with section 42 of 
the FDI Act (FDI Act), 12 U.S.C. 1831r-1, with regard to branch 
closings.
    (f) Branch relocations. A relocation of an existing branch does not 
require filing a branch application. A relocation of an existing branch, 
for purposes of determining whether to file a branch application, is a 
movement that does not substantially affect the nature of the branch's 
business or customers served.

[63 FR 37639, July 13, 1998, as amended at 63 FR 58621, Nov. 2, 1998]

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