On July 16, 2019, Ben Franklin Bank of Illinois, Arlington Heights, Illinois, its parent company, Ben Franklin Financial, Inc., and Corporate America Family Credit Union (“CAFCU”), Elgin, Illinois, announced that CAFCU will acquire the assets and assume the liabilities of Ben Franklin Bank in an all cash transaction.
Read More...On June 26, 2019, Oritani Financial Corp., Township of Washington, New Jersey, the holding company for Oritani Bank, and Valley National Bancorp, Wayne, New Jersey, the holding company for Valley National Bank, announced the execution of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Oritani will merge with and into Valley, with Valley as the resulting company.
Read More...To our clients and friends:
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently proposed amendments to its definitions of “accelerated filer” and “large accelerated filer.” The attached newsletter provides a review of the proposed changes and discusses how those changes would affect public companies’ periodic reporting with the SEC.
Read More...Jeff Cardone presented at the New York Credit Union Association Excel 19 Forum on June 15, 2019. The presentation titled “Do You Want to Buy a Bank?” The presentation focused on how the acquisition of banks by credit unions has become more common. The presentation also analyzed the factors that drive credit union/bank transactions, including how a bank acquisition is structured, the regulatory approval process and key considerations when assessing whether an acquisition of a bank should be a part of the credit union’s strategic plan.
Read More...To our clients and friends:
On May 24, 2019, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued its final rule (which becomes effective July 1, 2019) to allow a federal savings association with total consolidated assets of $20 billion or less as of December 31, 2017 to elect to operate with national bank powers without converting to a national bank charter. This election would allow an eligible federal savings association to exceed its statutory commercial and consumer lending limits and avoid compliance with the qualified thrift lender test.
While the final rule is welcome news for federal savings associations, significant interpretative questions remain as to how it may be utilized by a federal savings association subsidiary of a stock or mutual holding company. Specifically, the final rule does not address whether a subsidiary savings association of a savings and loan holding company that elects to operate with national bank powers would still be required to satisfy the qualified thrift lender test, which is a statutory requirement applicable to savings and loan holding companies. The OCC recognizes this issue and has directed all interpretative questions to the Federal Reserve. We have discussed this with the Federal Reserve Board staff and they are currently reviewing the final rule and its possible impact on savings and loan holding companies. However, they have not provided further guidance on this issue.
For more information, including a summary of the OCC’s final rule, please see the attached News Alert.
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