FR2070_20210524_omb

Supporting Statement for the
Interagency Bank Merger Act Application
(FR 2070; OMB No. 7100-0171)
Summary
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), under authority
delegated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has extended for three years,
without revision, the Interagency Bank Merger Act Application (FR 2070; OMB No.
7100-0171). The Board, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively, the agencies) each use this reporting form to collect
information on depository institution merger proposals that require prior approval under the
Bank Merger Act. The Board collects the information gathered by the FR 2070 so that it may
meet its statutory obligations with respect to each merger proposal in which the acquiring,
assuming, or resulting bank would be a state member bank (SMB).1
The estimated total annual burden for the FR 2070 is 1,864 hours. The form and
instructions are available on the Board’s public website at
https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportforms/default.aspx.
Background and Justification
The FR 2070 was instituted in 1960 with the enactment of section 18(c) of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. § 1828(c)), which is known as the Bank Merger Act.
Information submitted on the FR 2070 is used by the Board to fulfill its statutory obligation
under the Bank Merger Act to evaluate, with respect to each merger proposal in which the
acquiring, assuming, or resulting bank would be an SMB, the competitive effects of the proposal,
the financial and managerial resources and future prospects of the existing and proposed banking
organizations, financial stability, the effectiveness of any insured depository institution involved
in the proposed merger transaction in combatting money laundering activities, the effect of the
proposal on the convenience and needs of the affected communities, and whether the proposal
complies with the Bank Merger Act’s provisions regarding interstate merger transactions, if
applicable. The application form collects information on the basic legal and structural aspects of
the proposed transaction and on the extent to which the surviving SMB intends to retain and
continue operating as individual branches the headquarters and branches of the target bank.
As a general matter, the collected information is not readily available from any other
source and is used by the Board to determine whether a proposal satisfies the applicable criteria
under the Bank Merger Act.
Description of Information Collection
Reporting Requirements
The FR 2070 is an event-generated application that must be submitted to the Board to
1

See 12 U.S.C. § 1828(c).

request approval to effect a bank merger in which the acquiring, assuming, or resulting bank
would be an SMB. A merger transaction includes a merger, consolidation, assumption of deposit
liabilities, or certain asset transfers between or among two or more institutions. The reporting
form collects information on the basic legal and structural aspects of these transactions, as well
as pro forma financial information, information regarding the resultant institution’s business
strategy and ability to meet the convenience and needs of the affected communities, and
information regarding the effects of the proposed transaction on financial stability and
competition.
Disclosure Requirements
Additionally, an SMB submitting an application under the Bank Merger Act is required
to publish a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the community (ies) in which the head
office of each of the banks to be a party to the merger, consolidation, or acquisition of assets or
assumption of liabilities is located.2 The notice must be published on at least three occasions at
appropriate intervals. The last publication of the notice shall appear at least 30 days after the first
publication. The notice must state the name and address of each party to the proposal, and it must
invite the public to submit written comments to the appropriate Federal Reserve Bank. Within
seven days of publication of notice for the first time, the applicant shall submit its ap plication to
the appropriate Federal Reserve Bank for acceptance, along with a copy of the notice.
Respondent Panel
The FR 2070 respondent panel comprises state member banks regulated by the Federal
Reserve.
Time Schedule for Information Collection
The application is event-generated. An SMB may not consummate a merger transaction
in which it would be the acquiring, assuming, or resulting bank without first submitting the
FR 2070 and receiving the prior approval of the Board.
Public Availability of Data
The Board publishes certain information gathered by the FR 2070 regarding the parties to
and structure of associated transactions in its H.2 release, and the Board or the Federal Reserve
Banks may release information regarding those transactions in a Board order or Reserve Bank
approval letter. Additionally, the Board may release non-confidential information included in a
FR 2070 notice upon request pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Legal Status
The FR 2070 is authorized by section 18(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, which
requires, in relevant part, that a state member bank, when it is the acquiring, assuming, or
resulting bank, obtain prior approval from the Board before merging or consolidating with
2

12 CFR 262.3(b)(3).

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another insured depository institution, or assuming liability to pay any deposits made in any
other depository institution (12 U.S.C. § 1828(c)). The Board also has the authority to require
reports from state member banks (12 U.S.C. §§ 248(a) and 324). The obligation to respond is
required to obtain a benefit.
Individual respondents may request that information submitted to the Board through th e
FR 2070 be kept confidential. If a respondent requests confidential treatment, the Board will
determine whether the information is entitled to confidential treatment on a case-by-case basis.
To the extent a respondent submits nonpublic commercial or financial information in connection
with the FR 2070, which is both customarily and actually treated as private by the respon dent,
the respondent may request confidential treatment pursuant to exemption 4 of the FOIA
(5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4)). To the extent a respondent submits personnel, medical, or similar files,
the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy, the respondent may
request confidential treatment pursuant to exemption 6 of the FOIA (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6)). To
the extent a respondent submits information related to examination, operating, or condition
reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of a financial supervisory agency, the respondent
may request confidential treatment pursuant to exemption 8 of the FOIA (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(8)).
The entity should separately designate any such information as “confidential commercial
information” or “confidential financial information”, as appropriate, and the Board will treat
such designated information as confidential to the extent permitted by law, including the FOIA.
Consultation Outside the Agency
An interagency working group responsible for reviewing this collection, comprised of
representatives from the agencies, collaborated on confirming that no substantive changes were
needed to this form for this clearance cycle.
Public Comments
On December 23, 2020, the Board published an initial notice in the Federal Register
(85 FR 83955) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, without revision, of the
FR 2070. The comment period for this notice expired on February 22, 2021. The Board did not
receive any comments. The Board adopted the extension, without revision, of the FR 2070 as
originally proposed. On April 16, 2021, the Board published a final notice in the Federal
Register (86 FR 20154).
Estimate of Respondent Burden
As shown in the table below, the estimated total annual burden for the FR 2070 is 1,864
hours. The Board estimates that the average response time would be a combined 31 hours for
applications filed to effect a merger, consolidation, assumption of deposit liabilities, or other
combining transaction between nonaffiliated parties, and a combined 19 hours for applications
filed to effect a corporate reorganization between affiliated parties. The estimated number of
annual respondents is based on the number of applications filed from 2017 to 2019. These
reporting and disclosure requirements represent less than 1 percent of the Board’s total
paperwork burden.

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Estimated
number of
respondents3

Annual
frequency

Estimated
average hours
per response

Estimated
annual burden
hours

Nonaffiliate transactions

54

1

30

1,620

Affiliate transactions

10

1

18

180

Nonaffiliate transactions

54

1

1

54

Affiliate transactions

10

1

1

10

FR 2070
Reporting

Disclosure

Total

1,864

The estimated total annual cost to the public for the FR 2070 is $110,256.4
Sensitive Questions
This collection of information contains no questions of a sensitive nature, as defined by
OMB guidelines.
Estimate of Cost to the Federal Reserve System
The estimated cost to the Federal Reserve System for collecting and processing this
information collection is negligible.

3

Of these respondents, 18 nonaffiliate transactions respondents are considered small entities as defined by the Small
Business Administration (i.e., entities with less than $600 million in total assets),
https://www.sba.gov/document/support--table-size-standards.
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Total cost to the public was estimated using the following formula: percent of staff time, multiplied by annual
burden hours, multiplied by hourly rates (30% Office & Administrative Support at $20, 45% Financial Managers at
$73, 15% Lawyers at $72, and 10% Chief Executives at $95). Hourly rates for each occupational group are the
(rounded) mean hourly wages from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment and Wages
May 2020, published March 31, 2021, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. Occupations are defined
using the BLS Standard Occupational Classification System, http://www.bls.gov/soc/.

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