ABA Statement on FDIC, OCC Policy Statements on Mergers

“Today’s statements of merger policy finalized by the FDIC and OCC indicate that regulators are increasingly aware that the traditional analysis of competition banks face needs to be updated to reflect today’s financial services landscape, which includes credit unions, fintechs and the growth of online banking. Nevertheless, the statements do not provide the needed transparency, greater predictability and more timely merger approvals banks deserve, and it’s clear that the FDIC board has not yet achieved consensus on these matters.

“With the ongoing regulatory tsunami creating increased pressure for consolidation, regulators must ensure that banks that decide to combine have clear standards for how proposed mergers will be evaluated, that regulators’ decisions will be made promptly and that the approval process will not reflect a bias against mergers.”