The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Board of Directors today approved a notice of proposed rulemaking that would modernize and reform the process by which the FDIC reviews merger transactions under the Bank Merger Act (BMA).
Notable reforms under the proposed rule would include: accounting for credit unions and centrally booked deposits in the competitive effects analysis; establishing a letter filing process with “deemed approval” for “de minimis merger transactions;” tailoring other merger filing requirements to reduce burden and processing times; limiting and clarifying the FDIC’s discretion to remove a filing from expedited processing; and reforming the FDIC’s approach to evaluating the statutory factors under the BMA. More broadly, the proposed rule would impose discipline around timelines and modernize the framework to better reflect today’s banking environment.
Collectively, the proposed rule would substantially and meaningfully reduce regulatory burden and ensure that going forward, the agency’s review of merger transactions is faster, more predictable, and appropriately tailored to reflect the type, size, and complexity of the potential risks of a merger transaction subject to FDIC approval.
Comments on the attached proposal are due 60 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.