The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has
extended the comment period for its proposed rules and policy statement on bank
mergers and acquisitions. The agency announced commenters will have until
June 15 to weigh in.
The OCC’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR), titled
“Business Combinations under the Bank Merger Act,” was published in the Federal
Register on Feb. 14.
The OCC said it hopes to increase transparency around
standards that apply to the agency’s review of business combinations involving
national banks and federal savings associations. Among the notable provisions
in the NPR is one eliminating the possibility that a merger
application could be deemed approved solely based on the passage of time.
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu discussed
strategies for improving transparency and trust in the bank merger process
while speaking at the University of Michigan School of Business in January.
“Under a rule adopted by the OCC in 1996, certain merger
applications are deemed approved by the OCC on the 15th day after the close of
the comment period unless the OCC takes action to remove the filing from
expedited processing,” Hsu said. “The forthcoming NPR proposes to remove that,
reflecting our view that bank mergers are significant corporate transactions
that require the OCC to make a decision.”
He also noted that the proposed policy statement would be
crafted to clarify the process the OCC follows when determining whether to
extend a public comment period or hold a public meeting, based on its review of
an application under the Bank Merger Act.
With the extension, the public will have an additional three
months to submit comments, which were originally due on April 15.