Orders issued under Bank Holding Company Act

Federal Reserve Bulletin,  Summer, 2004  by Robert DeV. Frierson

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(6.) Under the DOJ Guidelines, 49 Federal Register 26,823 (1984), a market is considered moderately concentrated if the post-merger HHI is between 1000 and 1800 and is considered highly concentrated if the post-merger HHI is more than 1800. The Department of Justice has informed the Board that a bank merger or acquisition generally will not be challenged (in the absence of other factors indicating anticompetitive effects) unless the post-merger HHI is at least 1800 and the merger increases the HHI by more than 200 points. The Department of Justice has stated that the higher than normal HHI thresholds for screening bank mergers for anticompetitive effects implicitly recognize the competitive effects of limited-purpose lenders and other nondepositoryfinancial institutions.

(7.) The effects of the proposal on the concentration of banking resources in these markets are described in appendix C.

(8.) 12 U.S.C. [section] 2901 et seq. The Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment provides that an institution's most recent CRA performance evaluation is an important consideration in the applications process because it represents a detailed on-site evaluation of the institution's overall record of performance under the CRA by its appropriate federal supervisor. 66 Federal Register 36,620 and 36,639 (2001). Sky Bank received a "satisfactory" rating at its most recent CRA performance evaluation by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, as of October 14, 2003. Second Bank received a "satisfactory" rating at its most recent CRA performance evaluation by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, as of June 26, 2000. Sky Trust, National Association, Pepper Pike, Ohio, is a special-purpose bank that is not subject to the CRA.

Orders Issued Under Sections 3 and 4 of the Bank Holding Company Act

National City Corporation Cleveland, Ohio

Order Approving the Acquisition of a Bank Holding Company

National City Corporation ("National City"), 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 Act (12 U.S.C. [section] 1842) to acquire Provident Financial Group, Inc. ("Provident") and its subsidiary bank, The Provident Bank ("Provident Bank"), both in Cincinnati, Ohio. National City also has requested the Board's approval under sections 4(c)(8) and 4(j) of the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. [subsection] 1843(c)(8) and 1843(j)) and section 225.28(b)(6) of the Board's Regulation Y (12 CFR 225.28(b)(6)) to acquire a nonbanking subsidiary of Provident and thereby engage in permissible investment advisory activities.

Notice of the proposal, affording interested persons an opportunity to submit comments, has been published (69 Federal Register 8,660 (2004)). The time for filing comments has expired, and the Board has considered the proposal and all comments received in light of the factors set forth in sections 3 and 4 of the BHC Act.