Legal Interpretations

December 22, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mr. Neal J. Wilson granting a request by EJF Capital LLC, Arlington, Virginia, and related entities for relief from commitments made to the Board in connection with the acquisition of preferred shares in First Alliance Bancshares, Inc., Cordova, Tennessee.

December 21, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to John P. Greeley, Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring a filing under section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act, as amended, for CenterState Banks, Inc., Winter Haven, Florida, to acquire Platinum Bank Holding Company and thereby indirectly acquire Platinum Bank, both of Brandon, Florida.

December 14, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mr. Neal J. Wilson granting a request by EJF Capital LLC, Arlington, Virginia, and related entities for relief from commitments made to the Board in connection with the acquisition of preferred shares in Flagstar Bancorp, Inc., Troy, Michigan.

December 9, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to Aileen L. Nagy, Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring a filing under section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act, as amended, for State Bank Financial Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia, to acquire S Bankshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire S Bank, both of Glennville, Georgia.

December 7, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to Thomas E. Walker, Jr., Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring a filing under section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act, as amended, for Trustmark Corporation, Jackson, Mississippi, to acquire RB Bancorporation and thereby indirectly acquire Reliance Bank, both of Athens, Alabama.

November 28, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Matthew C. Tomb, Esq. granting a request by First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, Indiana, Pennsylvania, for a waiver from an application requirement under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, in connection with the acquisition of DCB Financial Corp, a bank holding company, and its subsidiary insured depository institution, Delaware County Bank and Trust Company, both of Lewis Center, Ohio.

November 23, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to T.J. Grasmick, Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring a filing under section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act, as amended, for CVB Financial Corp., Ontario, California, to acquire Valley Commerce Bancorp and thereby indirectly acquire Valley Business Bank, both of Visalia, California.

November 16, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to John R. Reisner, Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring filings under sections 3 and 4 of the Bank Holding Company Act, as amended, and section 10(e) of the Home Owners' Loan Act, as amended, for First Defiance Financial Corporation, Defiance, Ohio, to acquire Commercial Bancshares, Inc. and thereby indirectly acquire The Commercial Savings Bank, both of Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

October 21, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to Francis X. Grady, Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring a filing under section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act, as amended, for Middlefield Banc Corp., Middlefield, Ohio, to acquire Liberty Bank, N.A., Twinsburg, Ohio.

October 20, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Donald J. Toumey, Esq., that the election filed by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Sydney, Australia, to be treated as a financial holding company is effective.

October 13, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Rolando Mayans, advising that staff would not recommend that the Board find Equity Bankshares, Inc., Wichita, Kansas, to control White River Bankshares Company, Inc., Fayetteville, Arkansas, under the Bank Holding Company Act, as amended, if the transactions described in the letter are conducted according to the terms and conditions described in the letter and related correspondence.

September 29, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mr. William Myers granting a request by Wells Fargo & Company, San Francisco, California, for an extension of time to hold a merchant banking investment.

September 29, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mr. Sean Mahoney granting a request by Hildene Capital Management, LLC and related entities for relief from 40 sets of commitments made to the Board in connection with the acquisition of shares that 40 firms had issued separately to the Department of Treasury.

September 15, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mr. Dennis E. Nixon granting a request by International Bancshares Corporation, Laredo, Texas, for an extension of time to hold its merchant banking investment in Spring Austin Partners, Ltd.

September 7, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to Brian D. Christiansen, Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring a filing under section 10(e) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act, as amended, for OceanFirst Financial Corp., Toms River, New Jersey, to acquire Ocean Shore Holding Company and thereby indirectly acquire Ocean City Home Bank, both of Ocean City, New Jersey.

September 1, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Kevin P. McKendry granting a request by Lloyds Banking Group plc, London, United Kingdom, for an extension of time to hold its merchant banking investment in Test Equipment Asset Management Limited, Harrow, United Kingdom.

August 31, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mr. Steven R. Stenhaug granting a request by Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and related entities for relief from commitments made to the Board in connection with the acquisition of shares in Blue Valley Ban Corp., the parent company of Bank of Blue Valley, both of Overland Park, Kansas.

August 29, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mr. John M. Eggemeyer granting a request by Castle Creek Capital, Rancho Santa Fe, California, and related entities for relief from commitments made to the Board in connection with the acquisition of shares in Blue Valley Ban Corp., the parent company of Bank of Blue Valley, both of Overland Park, Kansas.

July 27, 2016

Letters to Mr. Emanuel J. Friedman granting requests by EJF Capital LLC, Arlington, Virginia, and related entities for relief from commitments made to the Board in connection with the acquisition of shares in (1) Franklin Financial Network, Inc. (PDF), the parent company of Franklin Synergy Bank, both of Franklin, Tennessee, and (2) Citizens Bank & Trust Company (PDF), Covington, Louisiana.

July 26, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Luigi De Ghenghi, Esq., granting a request by Sequoia Capital, Menlo Park, California, and related entities for relief from commitments made to the Board in connection with its acquisition of an interest in Green Dot Corporation, Pasadena, California, the parent company of Green Dot Bank, Provo, Utah.

June 30, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mark Chorazak granting a request by Corsair Georgia, L.P. for relief from passivity commitments that it provided to the Board in connection with its investment in United Community Banks, Inc., Blairsville, Georgia.

June 23, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Peter Heyward, Esq., granting a request by The Prudential Insurance Company of America for relief from passivity commitments that it provided to the Board in connection with its investment in City National Bancshares Corporation, Newark, New Jersey.

June 22, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Satish M. Kini, Esq., that the election filed by Westpac Banking Corporation, Sydney, Australia, to be treated as a financial holding company is effective.

June 15, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to John M. Geiringer, Esq., granting a request by Marquette National Corporation, Chicago, Illinois, for a general exemption pursuant to the Depository Institution Management Interlocks Act and the Board's Regulation L to allow Mr. Michael D. Devlin to become a director of Marquette while also serving as a director on the boards of OceanFirst Financial Corp. and its subsidiary savings association, OceanFirst Bank, both of Toms River, New Jersey.

June 02, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to Alan B. Kaplan, Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring a filing under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, for Barclays PLC, London, England, in connection with an internal reorganization involving Barclays Delaware Holdings LLC and Barclays Bank Delaware, both of Wilmington, Delaware.

May 27, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mr. Phillip D. Green granting a request by Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc., San Antonio, Texas, for relief from commitments made to the Board in connection with the acquisition of WNB Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of Western National Bank, both of Odessa, Texas.

May 03, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mr. Michael A. Leininger granting a request by The American Bank of Sidney, Nebraska for a general exemption pursuant to the Depository Institution Management Interlocks Act and the Board's Regulation L to allow Mr. James Cabela to serve as a director of The American Bank while also serving as a director of World’s Foremost Bank, both of Sidney, Nebraska.

April 27, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Jeffrey Hare advising that the T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. and affiliated entities collectively may acquire up to 15 percent of any class of voting securities of a bank holding company, bank, savings and loan holding company, or savings association without being deemed to have acquired control of that institution under the Bank Holding Company Act, the Home Owners' Loan Act, or the Change in Bank Control Act when the acquisition complies with certain conditions.

April 15, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to Luigi L. De Ghenghi, Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring a filing under section 3 of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, for Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., Tokyo, Japan, in connection with an internal reorganization involving Mizuho Bank (USA) and Mizuho Trust & Banking Co. (USA), both of New York, New York.

March 24, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to Christopher M. Paridon, Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring a filing under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, for Banco Santander, S.A., Boadilla del Monte, Spain, in connection with an internal reorganization involving Banco Santander; Santander Bancorp, San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Santander Holdings USA, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts.

March 24, 2016 (PDF)

General Counsel opinion letter to William S. Eckland, Esq., opining that no regulatory purpose would be served by requiring a filing under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, for Hana Financial Group, Inc., Seoul, Republic of Korea, in connection with an internal reorganization involving Hana Bancorp, Inc., New York, New York; and KEB Hana Bank, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

February 11, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Julie A. Kunetka, Esq., granting a request by Warburg Pincus & Co., New York, New York, and related entities for relief from commitments made to the Board in connection with the acquisition of voting shares in Umpqua Holdings Corporation, Portland, the parent company of Umpqua Bank, Roseburg, both of Oregon.

February 11, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to John L. Olsen, Esq., granting a request by WSFS Financial Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware, for a general exemption pursuant to the Depository Institution Management Interlocks Act and Subpart J of the Board's Regulation LL to allow Ms. Anat Bird to serve as a director of WSFS while also serving as a management official of Midland Financial Co. and MidFirst Bank, both of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

February 4, 2016

Letters to Jeffrey A. Watiker, Esq., granting requests by Banner Corporation ("Banner"), Walla Walla, Washington, for exemptions from the prohibitions of the Depository Institution Management Interlocks Act and Regulation L to permit: (1) Mr. Michael Harmon (PDF) to serve as a director on the board of directors of Banner while at the same time serving as a director of First BanCorp, Inc. ("First BanCorp") and its subsidiary bank, FirstBank Puerto Rico (“FirstBank”), both of San Juan, Puerto Rico; (2) Mr. Roberto Herencia (PDF) to serve as a director on the board of directors of Banner while at the same time serving as a director of First BanCorp and FirstBank and as a director of Byline Bancorp, Inc. and its subsidiary bank, Byline Bank, both of Chicago, Illinois; and (3) Mr. David Matson (PDF) to serve as a director on the board of directors of Banner while at the same time serving as a director of First BanCorp.

February 2, 2016

Letters to Mark Chorazak, Esq., granting requests by Castle Creek Capital LLC, Rancho Santa Fe, California, for general exemptions pursuant to the Depository Institution Management Interlocks Act and the Board's Regulation L to allow (1) Mr. John M. Eggemeyer (PDF) to serve as a director of Heritage Commerce Corp. and Heritage Bank of Commerce, both of San Jose, while also serving as a management official of PacWest Bancorp, Los Angeles, all of California; and (2) Mr. Mark G. Merlo (PDF) to serve as a director of Carlile Bancshares, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, while also serving as a management official of First NBC Bank Holding Company, New Orleans, Louisiana.

January 29, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to John M. Geiringer, Esq., granting a request by QCR Holdings, Inc., Moline, for a general exemption pursuant to the Depository Institution Management Interlocks Act and the Board's Regulation L to allow Ms. Lindsay Corby to serve as a director of QCR while also serving as a management official of Byline Bank, Chicago, both of Illinois.

January 28, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Mr. Lewis Goodwin, granting a request by Green Dot Corporation, Pasadena, California, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Green Dot Bank, Provo, Utah, for approval to engage in offering a new secured credit card, pursuant to commitments made to the Board in connection with the purchase of certain assets and assumption of certain liabilities of GE Capital Retail Bank, Draper, Utah.

January 28, 2016 (PDF)

Letter to Luigi L. De Ghenghi, Esq., advising that staff would not recommend that the Board find Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, Edinburgh, Scotland, to control Citizens Financial Group, Inc., Providence, Rhode Island, under the Bank Holding Company Act, as amended, if the transactions described in the letter are conducted according to the terms and conditions described in the letter and related correspondence.