Federal Reserve Release, H2, Actions of the Board, its Staff, and the Federal Reserve Banks; Applications and Reports Received

District: 2
Federal Reserve Bank of: New York

Filings received during the week ending December 10, 2005

Filer

Filing Type

Filing Proposal

End of Comment Period

BANCO SANTANDER CENTRAL HISPANO, S.A.

* 4c8

Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A., Madrid, Spain, pursuant to Section 4(c)(8) of the BHC Act and Section 225.24 of Regulation Y, to acquire 24.99 percent of the voting shares of Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and thereby indirectly acquire Sovereign Bank, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, and Independence Community Bank, Brooklyn, New York, and thereby engage in operating savings associations, pursuant to Section 225.28(b)(4) of Regulation Y.

Newspaper:	Not available
Federal Register:	Not available

CHECKSPRING COMMUNITY CORPORATION

* 3A1

Final application by CheckSpring Community Corporation, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Bronx, New York, for prior approval of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, pursuant to Section 3(a)(1) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, to become a bank holding company through the acquisition of all the voting stock to be issued by CheckSpring Bank (in organization), a proposed de novo New York State chartered commercial Bank.

Newspaper:	12/22/2005
Federal Register:	12/29/2005

Community Partners Bancorp

* 3A1
* 3A3

Community Partners Bancorp, Middletown, New Jersey, to become a bank holding company, pursuant to Section 3(a)(1) of the BHC Act, and to acquire 100 percent of the voting shares of Two River Community Bank, Middletown, New Jersey and The Town Bank, Westfield, New Jersey, pursuant to Section 3(a)(3) of the BHC Act.

Newspaper:	Not available
Federal Register:	01/06/2006

ISRAEL SALT INDUSTRIES LTD.

4c8

Notice by Bank Hapoalim B.M., Arison Holdings Ltd. and Israel Salt Industries Ltd. all of Tel Aviv, Israel to acquire Investec USA, New York, NY and thereby engage in nonbanking activities pursuant to Sections 225.28(b)(6), (7) and (8) of Regulation Y.

Newspaper:	Not applicable
Federal Register:	Not available

RABOBANK NEDERLAND

* 3A3

Application by Rabobank Nederland B.V. and Rabobank International Holdings B.V both of Utrecht, the Netherlands, and their direct and indirect subsidiairies Utrect-America Holdings, New York, New York and VIB Corporation, El Centro, California to acquire Central Coast Bancorp and thereby its banking subsidiairy Community Bank of Central California, both of Salinas, California pursuant to Section 3(a)(3) of the BHCA.

Newspaper:	Not available
Federal Register:	01/06/2006

Availability of CRA Public Evaluations

The Community Reinvestment Act is intended to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. It was enacted by the Congress in 1977 (12 U.S.C. 2901) and is implemented by Regulation BB (12 CFR 228). The regulation was revised in May 1995.

The CRA requires that each depository institution's record in helping meet the credit needs of its entire community be evaluated periodically. That record is taken into account in considering an institution's application for deposit facilities.

A copy of an institution's CRA evaluation may be obtained directly from the institution or Reserve Bank.

Federal bank regulators use the following performance levels to rate an institution's performance under CRA:

O = Outstanding
S = Satisfactory
NI = Needs to improve
SN = Substantial noncompliance

The following state member banks have been examined and their CRA public evaluations are now available.

Institution / Location	RSSD ID	Exam Date	CRA Public Date	CRA Rating	Exam Method
NONE

CRA Examinations scheduled for Quarter of

Institution	Location
NONE

District: 2 Federal Reserve Bank of: New York

Filings received during the week ending December 10, 2005

Availability of CRA Public Evaluations

CRA Examinations scheduled for Quarter of

District: 2
Federal Reserve Bank of: New York