Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 6, March 18, 2024
(a) A bank, savings bank or savings and loan association shall notify the Department not less than 30 days before closing a full branch office. The institution shall include in this notice the following:
1. The name of the institution and the location of its principal office;
2. The location of the branch office which will be closed;
3. The prospective date of closing;
4. A statement of reasons leading to the decision to close the branch;
5. A map of the general area served by the branch showing all remaining branches of State or Federally chartered banks, savings banks and savings and loan associations within such area; and
6. A statement indicating the effect the branch closing will have on the availability of financial services in the area.
(b) If a bank, savings bank or savings and loan association acquires a branch or deposits of a branch from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or has an option to purchase a branch, and closes it within 180 days, or if it sells a branch to another depository which operates the office as a branch, it may comply with this rule by filing a Certificate of Discontinuance with the Commissioner.
(c) A bank, savings bank or savings and loan association may submit to the Department a copy of the branch closing notice filed with its Federal regulator in lieu of the filings required by (a)1 through 4 above.
(d) Notice requirements for closing of branch offices are as follows:
1. Beginning within 10 calendar days after notification to the Department, the bank, savings bank or savings and loan association shall publish notice of the proposed closing once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper designated by the Commissioner, which is published and circulated in the municipality in which said branch is to be closed, or if there be no such newspaper, then in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. The institution shall include in the notice the name of the institution, the location of the branch office which will be closed and the prospective date of closing, the location of the depository's nearest branch office, and a statement indicating that all comments to the closing of the branch may be made to the institution and to the Department of Banking, along with the mailing address of the Department and the institution.
2. A bank, savings bank or savings and loan association which notifies its customers of the branch closing in accordance with Federal law is exempt from the publication requirement in (d)1 above.
3. For at least 30 days prior to the branch closing, the bank, savings bank or savings and loan association shall conspicuously post notice of the proposed branch closing in the branch to be closed. This notice in the branch shall contain at least the prospective date of closing, the location of the depository's nearest branch office, and a statement indicating that all comments regarding the closing of the branch may be made to the institution and to the Department along with the mailing address of the institution and the Department.
4. The notice requirements of this subsection shall not apply to a branch relocation within the same neighborhood where the customers served by the closed branch would be substantially unaffected by the move. In addition, the notice requirements of this subsection shall not apply to a consolidation of branches after a merger or acquisition if the branches are located in the same neighborhood and the nature of the business or customers served is not affected.
(e) If the Commissioner determines that there are valid concerns regarding the effect of the closing upon the local community, the Commissioner shall be authorized to conduct such meetings with the institution closing the branch, and with banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations, community leaders and others, as are necessary in his or her judgment to explore the effect of the branch closing on the community and the possibility of replacing such branch office with other adequate facilities.
(f) The Commissioner may suspend the notice requirements of this rule in the event of an emergency or a supervisory merger or acquisition, or when otherwise in the public interest.
(g) Banks, savings banks and savings and loan associations shall maintain a file in their principal office which is open to the public and which contains a description of any meetings or hearings which occurred pursuant to this section in the past two years.
