Substitute Senate Bill No. 899
Substitute Senate Bill No. 899
PUBLIC ACT NO. 97-33
AN ACT CONCERNING COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT
REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 36a-34 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
thereof:
(a) As used in subsection (b) of this
section:
(1) "Entity" means the applicant or
applicants except, [: (A) In the case of an
approval pursuant to section 36a-181, "entity"
means the subsidiaries of the parent corporation,
if any, and the parent corporation, if it is a
bank or out-of-state bank; and (B)] in the case of
an approval pursuant to section 36a-411, "entity"
means the subsidiaries of the applicant holding
company.
(2) "Resulting entity" means: (A) In the case
of an approval pursuant to section 36a-145 AND
SUBDIVISION (2) OF SUBSECTION (a) OF SECTION
36a-412, the applicant; (B) in the case of an
approval pursuant to section 36a-125, the
resulting Connecticut bank; (C) in the case of an
approval pursuant to section 36a-181, the
[subsidiary] Connecticut bank; (D) in the case of
an approval pursuant to section 36a-411, the
[institution] BANK to be acquired or established;
and (E) in the case of an approval pursuant to
SUBDIVISION (1) OF SUBSECTION (a) OF section
36a-412, the bank to be acquired or the resulting
bank.
(3) "Federal CRA" shall have the same meaning
as set forth in subsection (a) of section 36a-30.
(b) The commissioner shall not grant any
approval under section 36a-125, subsections (b),
[and] (c) AND (d) of section 36a-145, section
36a-181, SECTION 36a-411 or SUBDIVISIONS (1) AND
(2) OF SUBSECTION (a) OF SECTION 36a-412 unless
the commissioner finds, in accordance with
regulations adopted pursuant to chapter 54, that
(1) BASED ON THE MOST RECENT APPLICABLE
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND ANY RELATED INFORMATION
REQUIRED BY THE COMMISSIONER, the entity has a
record of compliance with the requirements of
federal CRA, sections 36a-30 to 36a-33, inclusive,
to the extent applicable, and applicable consumer
protection laws; and [that] (2) EXCEPT AS
OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THIS SUBSECTION, IF THE
ENTITY, AND IN THE CASE OF AN APPROVAL PURSUANT TO
SECTION 36a-411, THE BANK OR ANY SUBSIDIARY BANK
OF THE CONNECTICUT HOLDING COMPANY, RECEIVED ANY
OVERALL RATING OTHER THAN AN ASSIGNED RATING OF
"OUTSTANDING" ON ITS MOST RECENT APPLICABLE
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION, the
resulting entity will provide adequate services to
meet the banking needs of all community residents,
including low-income residents and moderate-income
residents to the extent permitted by its charter,
in accordance with a plan submitted by the
applicant to the commissioner, in such form and
containing such information as the commissioner
may require, or, if acceptable to the
commissioner, in accordance with an approved
strategic plan prepared under federal CRA, or the
relevant portion thereof, that is submitted by the
applicant to the commissioner. Upon receiving any
such plan, the commissioner shall make the plan
available for public inspection and comment at the
Department of Banking and cause notice of its
submission and availability for inspection and
comment to be published in the department's weekly
bulletin. With the concurrence of the
commissioner, the applicant or applicants shall
publish, in the form of a legal advertisement in a
newspaper having a substantial circulation in the
area, notice of such plan's submission and
availability for public inspection and comment.
The notice shall state that the inspection and
comment period will last for a period of thirty
days from the date of publication. The
commissioner shall not make such finding until the
expiration of such thirty-day period. In making
such finding, the commissioner shall, unless
clearly inapplicable, consider, among other
factors, whether the plan identifies specific
unmet credit and consumer banking needs in the
local community and specifies how such needs will
be satisfied, provides for sufficient distribution
of banking services among branches or satellite
devices, or both, located in low-income
neighborhoods, contains adequate assurances that
banking services will be offered on a
nondiscriminatory basis and demonstrates a
commitment to extend credit for housing, small
business and consumer purposes in low-income
neighborhoods. THE SUBMISSION OF SUCH PLAN SHALL
NOT BE REQUIRED IN THE CASE OF AN APPROVAL UNDER
SUBSECTION (d) OF SECTION 36a-145, PROVIDED, THE
COMMISSIONER MAY REQUIRE THE FILING OF SUCH
INFORMATION IN LIEU OF A PLAN AS THE COMMISSIONER
DEEMS APPROPRIATE. Except with respect to an
approval pursuant to [section] SECTIONS 36a-145
AND 36a-181, the commissioner shall not approve
the transaction if the transaction would result in
a monopoly, or would be in furtherance of any
combination or conspiracy to monopolize or attempt
to monopolize the business of banking in this
state or if the commissioner determines that the
effect of the proposed transaction may be to
substantially lessen competition, or would tend to
create a monopoly, or would be in restraint of
trade, unless the commissioner finds that the
anticompetitive effects of the proposed
transaction are clearly outweighed in the public
interest by the probable effect of the transaction
in meeting the convenience and needs of the
community to be served.
(c) The commissioner shall not make a
determination stating that the commissioner does
not disapprove an offer, invitation, request,
agreement or acquisition pursuant to section
36a-185 unless the commissioner finds, in
accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to
chapter 54, that (1) BASED ON THE MOST RECENT
APPLICABLE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND ANY RELATED
INFORMATION REQUIRED BY THE COMMISSIONER, the
acquiring person, if such person is a bank or
out-of-state bank, and the acquiring person's
subsidiaries, if such person is a holding company,
has a record of compliance with the requirements
of federal CRA, sections 36a-30 to 36a-33,
inclusive, to the extent applicable, and
applicable consumer protection laws; and [that]
(2) IF the bank or [the banking subsidiaries] ANY
BANKING SUBSIDIARY of the holding company referred
to in the acquisition statement RECEIVED ANY
OVERALL RATING OTHER THAN AN ASSIGNED RATING OF
"OUTSTANDING" ON ITS MOST RECENT APPLICABLE
COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION,
SUCH BANK OR BANKING SUBSIDIARY will provide
adequate services to meet the banking needs of all
community residents, including low-income
residents and moderate-income residents to the
extent permitted by its charter or their charters.
If the acquiring person is not a natural person,
or if the acquiring person is a natural person who
would be the beneficial owner of twenty-five per
cent or more of any class of voting securities of
the bank or holding company referred to in the
acquisition statement, the finding as to the
adequacy of services to be provided shall be based
on a plan submitted by the acquiring person to the
commissioner, in such form and containing such
information as the commissioner may require, or,
if acceptable to the commissioner, in accordance
with an approved strategic plan prepared under
federal CRA, or the relevant portion thereof, that
is submitted by the acquiring person to the
commissioner. Upon receiving any such plan, the
commissioner shall make the plan available for
public inspection and comment at the Department of
Banking and cause notice of its submission and
availability for inspection and comment to be
published in the department's weekly bulletin.
With the concurrence of the commissioner, the
acquiring person shall publish, in the form of a
legal advertisement in a newspaper having a
substantial circulation in the area, notice of
such plan's submission and availability for public
inspection and comment. The notice shall state
that the inspection and comment period will last
for a period of thirty days from the date of
publication. The commissioner shall not make such
finding until the expiration of such thirty-day
period. In making such finding, the commissioner
shall consider, among other factors, whether the
plan identifies specific unmet credit and consumer
banking needs in the local community and specifies
how such needs will be satisfied, provides for
sufficient distribution of banking services among
branches or satellite devices, or both, located in
low-income neighborhoods, contains adequate
assurances that banking services will be offered
on a nondiscriminatory basis and demonstrates a
commitment to extend credit for housing, small
business and consumer purposes in low-income
neighborhoods. If the acquiring person is a
natural person who would be the beneficial owner
of less than twenty-five per cent of all classes
of voting securities of the bank or holding
company referred to in the acquisition statement,
the commissioner shall make the finding as to
adequacy of services to be provided based on the
commitment of the acquiring person to use the
acquiring person's best efforts to cause such bank
or banking subsidiaries of such holding company to
provide such services. The commissioner shall not
make a determination stating that the commissioner
does not disapprove such offer, invitation,
request, agreement or acquisition if such offer,
invitation, request, agreement or acquisition
would result in a monopoly, or would be in
furtherance of any combination or conspiracy to
monopolize or attempt to monopolize the business
of banking in this state or if the commissioner
should determine that the effect of the proposed
offer, invitation, request, agreement or
acquisition may be to substantially lessen
competition, or would tend to create a monopoly,
or would be in restraint of trade, unless the
commissioner finds that the anticompetitive
effects of the proposed transaction are clearly
outweighed in the public interest by the probable
effect of the transaction in meeting the
convenience and needs of the community to be
served.
Approved May 6, 1997