OCC's Hsu Floats 'Chalk Lines' for Bank Merger Approvals

OCC's Hsu Floats 'Chalk Lines' for Bank Merger Approvals

January 29, 2024, Law360

Randy Benjenk’s commentary was included in a Law360 article discussing a proposal by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to provide banks with a sketch of what the agency thinks a winning merger applicant does and doesn't look like.

While the agency said the proposal is an effort to establish “chalk lines for what's clearly consistent with approval and inconsistent with approval,” Randy commented that many applicants may actually find it tough to stay within the "chalk lines" of the OCC's draft policy statement. “There are a lot of deals, including very benign and uncontroversial deals, that would not satisfy these factors that the OCC says it wants to see. It really does represent a change in policy that would subject a lot more transactions to a more searching review and a longer, more expensive and uncertain process based on factors that, candidly, I think are overbroad.”