Approval of Proposal by Regions Financial Corporation
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FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Regions Financial Corporation Birmingham, Alabama Regions Bank Birmingham, Alabama Order Approving the Merger of Bank Holding Companies, the Merger of Banks, and the Establishment of Branches Regions Financial Corporation (“Regions”), a financial holding company within the meaning of the Bank Holding Company Act (“BHC Act”), has requested the Board’s approval under section 3 of the BHC Act1 [Footnote 1. 12 U.S.C. § 1842. End footnote.] to merge with AmSouth Bancorporation (“Amsouth”) and acquire its subsidiary bank, AmSouth Bank, both of Birmingham.2 [Footnote 2. In addition, Regions and AmSouth each has requested the Board’s approval to exercise an option to purchase up to 19.9 percent of the other institution’s stock on the occurrence of certain circumstances. The options would terminate on consummation of Regions’ merger with AmSouth. End footnote.] In addition, Regions’ subsidiary state member bank, Regions Bank, also of Birmingham, has requested the Board’s approval under section 18(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act3 [Footnote 3. 12 U.S.C. § 1828(c). End footnote.] (“Bank Merger Act”) to merge with AmSouth Bank, with Regions Bank as the surviving entity. Regions Bank also has applied under section 9 of the Federal Reserve Act (“FRA”) to retain and operate branches at the locations of AmSouth Bank’s main office and branches.4 [Footnote 4. 12 U.S.C. § 321. End footnote.] In addition, Regions has provided notice under section 25 of the Federal Reserve Act and section 211.5 of the Board’s Regulation K5 [Footnote 5. 12 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.; 12 CFR 211.5. End footnote.] of its intention to acquire Cahaba International, Inc., also of Birmingham, an agreement corporation subsidiary of AmSouth Bank.6 [Footnote 6. Regions proposes to acquire the shares of the nonbanking subsidiaries of AmSouth in accordance with section 4(k) of the BHC Act and the post-transaction notice procedures in section 225.87 of Regulation Y. 12 U.S.C. § 1843(k); 12 CFR 225.87. End footnote.] Notice of the proposal, affording interested persons an opportunity to submit comments, has been published in the Federal Register (71 Federal Register 47,812 (2006)) and in local publications in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Board’s Rules of Procedure.7 [Footnote 7. 12 CFR 262.3(b). End footnote.] As required by the Bank Merger Act, reports on the competitive effects of the mergers were requested from the United States Attorney General and the appropriate banking agencies. The time for filing comments has expired, and the Board has considered the applications and notice and all comments received in light of the factors set forth in section 3 of the BHC Act, the Bank Merger Act, and the FRA.8 [Footnote 8. The Board received 132 comments that supported the transaction and 18 comments that either opposed or expressed concern about various aspects of the proposal. End footnote.] Regions, with total consolidated assets of approximately $86.1 billion, is the 21st largest depository organization in the United States, controlling domestic deposits of approximately $57.2 billion, which represent less than 1 percent of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in the United States.9 [Footnote 9. Nationwide asset data are as of June 30, 2006. Nationwide deposit and ranking data are as of, and reflect merger activity through, June 30, 2006. In this context, insured depository institutions include insured commercial banks, savings banks, and savings associations. End footnote.] Regions operates one subsidiary depository institution, Regions Bank, with branches in 16 states,10 [Footnote 10. Regions Bank operates branches in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. End footnote.] and engages in numerous nonbanking activities that are permissible under the BHC Act. AmSouth, with total consolidated assets of approximately $53.9 billion, is the 27th largest depository organization in the United States, controlling domestic deposits of approximately $35.8 billion. AmSouth operates one subsidiary depository institution, AmSouth Bank, with branches in seven states.11 [Footnote 11. AmSouth Bank operates branches in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia. End footnote.] On consummation of this proposal, and after accounting for all proposed divestitures, Regions would become the 13th largest depository organization in the United States, with total consolidated assets of approximately $142.4 billion. Regions would control domestic deposits of approximately $90.6 billion, which represent less than 2 percent of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in the United States. Interstate Analysis Section 3(d) of the BHC Act allows the Board to approve an application by a bank holding company to acquire control of a bank located in a state other than the home state of such bank holding company if certain conditions are met.12 [Footnote 12. 12 U.S.C. § 1842. End footnote.] For purposes of section 3(d) of the BHC Act, the home state of Regions is Alabama,13 [Footnote 13. Under section 3(d) of the BHC Act, a bank holding company’s home state is the state in which the total deposits of all subsidiary banks of the company were the largest on July 1, 1966, or the date on which the company became a bank holding company, whichever is later. 12 U.S.C. § 1841(o)(4)(C). End footnote.] and AmSouth Bank is located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia.14 [Footnote 14. For purposes of section 3(d), the Board considers a bank to be located in states in which the bank is chartered, headquartered, or operates a branch. See 12 U.S.C. §§ 1841(o)(4)-(7), 1842(d)(1)(A), and 1842(d)(2)(B). End footnote.] Based on a review of all the facts of record, including a review of relevant state statutes, the Board finds that all conditions for an interstate acquisition enumerated in section 3(d) of the BHC Act are met in this case.15 [Footnote 15. See 12 U.S.C. §1842(d)(1)(A)-(B), (d)(2)(A)-(B). Regions is adequately capitalized and adequately managed, as defined by applicable law. AmSouth Bank has been in existence and operated for the minimum period of time required by applicable law. See Fla. Stat. Ann. § 658.2953 (three years); Ga. Code § 7-1-622(b)(1) (three years); La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 538 (five years); Miss. Code. Ann. § 81-23-9 (five years); Tenn. Code. Ann. § 45-2-1403 (three years); and Va. Code Ann. § 6.1-44.20 (no minimum period). On consummation of the proposal, Regions would control less than 10 percent of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in the United States and, after accounting for all proposed divestitures, less than 30 percent, or the applicable percentage established by state law, of total deposits held in each relevant state by insured depository institutions. All other requirements pursuant to section 3(d) of the BHC Act would be met on consummation of the proposal. End footnote.] In light of all the facts of record, the Board is permitted to approve the proposal under section 3(d) of the BHC Act. Competitive Considerations The BHC Act and the Bank Merger Act prohibit the Board from approving a proposal that would result in a monopoly or would be in furtherance of any attempt to monopolize the business of banking in any relevant banking market. Both acts also prohibit the Board from approving a bank acquisition that would substantially lessen competition in any relevant banking market, unless the anticompetitive effects of the proposal are clearly outweighed in the public interest by its probable effect in meeting the convenience and needs of the community to be served.16 [Footnote 16. 12 U.S.C. § 1842(c)(1); 12 U.S.C. § 1828(c)(5). End footnote.] Regions and AmSouth have subsidiary depository institutions that compete directly in 67 banking markets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The Board has reviewed carefully the competitive effects of the proposal in each of these banking markets in light of all the facts of record and public comments on the proposal.17 [Footnote 17. Several commenters expressed general concerns about the competitive effects of this proposal, including that consummation of the proposal would violate antitrust law. These concerns were carefully considered as part of the analysis described above. End footnote.] In particular, the Board has considered the number of competitors that would remain in the banking markets, the relative shares of total deposits in depository institutions (“market deposits”) controlled by Regions and AmSouth in those markets,18 [Footnote 18. Deposit and market share data are based on data reported by insured depository institutions in the summary of deposits data as of June 30, 2005, adjusted to reflect mergers and acquisitions through August 3, 2006, and are based on calculations in which the deposits of thrift institutions are included at 50 percent. The Board previously has indicated that thrift institutions have become, or have the potential to become, significant competitors of commercial banks. See, e.g., Midwest Financial Group, 75 Federal Reserve Bulletin 386 (1989); National City Corporation, 70 Federal Reserve Bulletin 743 (1984). Thus, the Board regularly has included thrift deposits in the market-share calculation on a 50 percent weighted basis. See, e.g., First Hawaiian, Inc., 77 Federal Reserve Bulletin 52 (1991). End footnote.] the concentration levels of market deposits and the increases in these levels, as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (“HHI”) under the Department of Justice Merger Guidelines (“DOJ Guidelines”),19 [Footnote 19.