FR2070_20240627_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 2,183 hours. The form and
instructions are available on the Board’s public website at
https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/reportingforms/.
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 deposit concentration limit applying to 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 entity
intends to retain and continue operating as individual branches the main office and branches of
the target bank.
This information is not available from other sources and is used by the Board to
determine whether a proposal satisfies the applicable criteria under the Bank Merger Act.

1

See 12 U.S.C. § 1828(c).

Description of Information Collection
Reporting Requirements
The FR 2070 is an event-generated application that must be submitted to the Board to
request approval for 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. The
Board understands that respondents use information technology to comply with these provisions,
including filing either in hard copy or electronically via FedEZFile with the appropriate Reserve
Bank.
Disclosure Requirements
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 main office of
each of the parties 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 application to the
appropriate Federal Reserve Bank for acceptance, along with a copy of the notice.
Respondent Panel
The FR 2070 panel comprises SMBs regulated by the Federal Reserve.
Frequency and Time Schedule
The FR 2070 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.
2

12 U.S.C. § 1828(c)(3); 12 CFR 262.3(b)(3).

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Legal Status
The FR 2070 is authorized by section 18(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act
(12 U.S.C. § 1828(c)), 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 another insured depository institution, or assuming liability to pay any
deposits made in any other depository institution. 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 the
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 that is both
customarily and actually treated as private by the respondent, the respondent may request
confidential treatment pursuant to exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (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
The Board consulted with the OCC and FDIC to confirm that no revisions were needed to
the FR 2070 for this clearance cycle.
Public Comments
On January 29, 2024, the Board published an initial notice in the Federal Register (89 FR
5542) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, without revision, of the FR 2070.
The comment period for this notice expired on March 29, 2024. The Board did not receive any
comments. The Board adopted the extension, without revision, of the FR 2070 as originally
proposed. On June 7, 2024, the Board published a final notice in the Federal Register (89 FR
48641).
Estimate of Respondent Burden
As shown in the table below, the estimated total annual burden for the FR 2070 is 2,183
hours. The Board estimates that the average response time would be a combined 34 hours for
applications filed to effect a merger, consolidation, assumption of deposit liabilities, or other
combining transaction between nonaffiliated parties, and a combined 31 hours for applications

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filed to effect a corporate reorganization between affiliated parties. The estimated number of
annual respondents is based on the number of applications filed from 2020 to 2022. The burden
estimate was adjusted up using the standard Board burden calculation methodology. These
reporting and disclosure requirements represent less than 1 percent of the Board’s total
paperwork burden.
Estimated
number of
respondents3

FR 2070

Estimated
Estimated
Estimated
annual
average hours annual burden
frequency per response
hours

Reporting
Nonaffiliate transactions
Affiliate transactions

56
9

1
1

33
30

1,848
270

Disclosure
Nonaffiliate transactions

56

1

1

56

9

1

1

9
2,183

Affiliate transactions
Total

The estimated total annual cost to the public for the FR 2070 is $152,483.4
Sensitive Questions
This information collection 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, 17 are considered small entities as defined by the Small Business Administration (i.e.,
entities with less than $850 million in total assets). Size standards effective March 17, 2023. See
https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards. There are no special accommodations given to mitigate
the burden on small institutions.
4 Total cost to the responding public is estimated using the following formula: total burden hours, multiplied by the
cost of staffing, where the cost of staffing is calculated as a percent of time for each occupational group multiplied
by the group’s hourly rate and then summed (30% Office & Administrative Support at $23, 45% Financial
Managers at $84, 15% Lawyers at $85, and 10% Chief Executives at $124). Hourly rates for each occupational
group are the (rounded) mean hourly wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment
and Wages, May 2023, published April 3, 2024, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. Occupations are
defined using the BLS Standard Occupational Classification System, https://www.bls.gov/soc/.

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