Seal of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
OF THE
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
WASHINGTON, D. C.  20551
DIVISION OF BANKING
SUPERVISION AND REGULATION
SR 08-5
July 10, 2008

TO THE OFFICER IN CHARGE OF SUPERVISION AT EACH FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
SUBJECT:  Processing of De Novo Bank Membership Applications

The Federal Reserve is streamlining the application process for de novo banks1  and enhancing coordination with other banking supervisory agencies in that process. The revisions to the application process for de novo banks include:

Going forward, Reserve Bank staff should advise organizers of state-chartered banks to submit the Federal Reserve membership application form2  and the Interagency Charter and Federal Deposit Insurance Application form3  to the responsible Reserve Bank simultaneously.

In order to further reduce regulatory burden, System staff will coordinate with the FDIC and the state banking agency to ensure that applicants do not receive duplicate requests for information. However, System staff should continue to request additional information when information needed to analyze the factors that the Federal Reserve must consider is not being sought by other regulators.

In the past, because of the different name check processes of the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and relevant state banking authorities, applicants often had to make multiple trips to complete fingerprint cards for each banking agency. In order to alleviate this burden, the responsible Reserve Bank should coordinate with the other agencies to enable individuals to have all fingerprint cards made at the same time.

Questions regarding this guidance may be directed to Lisa DeFerrari, Assistant Director, Applications, at (202) 452-3893, or Robert Brooks, Supervisory Financial Analyst, Domestic Applications, at (202) 452-3103. In addition, questions may be sent via the Board's public website.4 

Roger T. Cole
Director

Cross Reference:  SR 91-17, "Application and Supervision Standards for De Novo State Member Banks"



Notes:
  1. For a definition of a de novo bank, see SR letter 91-17, "Application and Supervision Standards for De Novo State Member Banks."  Return to text
  2. The Federal Reserve membership application form (FR 2083/A/B/C) can be downloaded from the website of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve at:  http://www.federalreserve.gov/reportforms/ReportDetail.cfm?WhichFormId=FR_2083/A/B/C&WhichCategory=2 Return to text
  3. The Interagency Charter and Federal Deposit Insurance Application form (FDIC 3064-0001) and other interagency administrative forms can be downloaded from the FDIC website at:  http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/forms/index.html   Return to text
  4. See http://www.federalreserve.gov/feedback.cfmReturn to text


SR letters | 2008