Bank Mergers
Another responsibility of the Federal Reserve is to act on proposed bank mergers
when the resulting institution would be a state member bank. The Bank Merger Act
of 1960 sets forth the factors to be considered in evaluating merger
applications. These factors are similar to those that must be considered in
reviewing bank acquisition proposals by bank holding companies. To ensure that
all merger applications are evaluated in a uniform manner, the act requires that
the responsible agency request reports from the Department of Justice and from
the other approving banking agencies addressing the competitive impact of the
transaction.