S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a weekly roundup of notable actions of the Federal Reserve, as well as applications and reports received from banks, thrifts and credit unions. This feature excludes branch news and news previously covered by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
M&A
On Sept. 20, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis granted Belzoni, Miss.-based Guaranty Capital Corp. a waiver of application to merge with Cordova, Tenn.-based First Alliance Bancshares Inc., in connection with the merger of First Alliance Bank with and into Guaranty Bank and Trust Co.
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On Sept. 19, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City granted Osawatomie Agency Inc. a waiver of application to acquire Pony Express Bancorp Inc. and St. Joseph, Mo.-based Pony Express Community Bank, in connection with the merger of Pony Express Community Bank with and into Osawatomie, Kan.-based First Option Bank.
The Kansas City Fed also approved the merger of the two banks.
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The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Sept. 18 approved Ames National Corp.'s application to acquire Iowa State Savings Bank from Iowa Community Bancorp Inc.
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On the same date, the Chicago Fed also granted Morton, Ill.-based Hometown Community Bancorp Inc. and Hometown Community Bancorp Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Trust a waiver of application to acquire First Trust & Savings Bank of Albany, Illinois, in connection with the merger of First Trust & Savings Bank with and into Morton Community Bank.
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The general counsel of the Federal Reserve on Sept. 18 granted Huntington, W.Va.-based Premier Financial Bancorp Inc. a waiver of application to acquire Jackson, Ky.-based First National Bank of Jackson, in connection with the merger of First National Bank of Jackson with and into Vanceburg, Ky.-based Citizens Deposit Bank & Trust.
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The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis on Sept. 18 approved the application of Minot, N.D.-based Westbrand Inc. to acquire West Fargo, N.D.-based BlackRidge Financial Inc. and thereby indirectly acquire BlackRidgeBANK.
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On Sept. 18, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas approved the application of Woodforest Financial Group Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Woodforest Financial Group Employee Stock Ownership Trust to acquire shares of The Woodlands, Texas-based Woodforest Financial Group Inc. and indirectly acquire Woodforest National Bank.
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On Sept. 17, the Chicago Fed granted Kankakee, Ill.-based First Trust Financial Corp. a waiver of application to acquire Danforth, Ill.-based Prairie State Bancorp Inc. and indirectly acquire Farmers State Bank of Danforth, in connection with the merger of Farmers State Bank of Danforth with and into First Trust Bank of Illinois.
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The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Sept. 17 approved the application of Fair Lawn, N.J.-based Columbia Bank MHC and Columbia Financial Inc. (MHC) to acquire Midland Park, N.J.-based Stewardship Financial Corp. and thereby indirectly acquire Atlantic Stewardship Bank, in connection with Atlantic Stewardship Bank's merger with and into Columbia Bank (MHC), a subsidiary of Columbia Financial.
Stewardship Financial received approval to convert to a savings and loan holding company upon the conversion of Atlantic Stewardship Bank to a stock savings association from a commercial bank.
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The Minneapolis Fed on Sept. 16 approved the application of St. Peter, Minn.-based Bancommunity Service Corp. to acquire Belle Plaine, Minn.-based State Bank of Belle Plaine, a unit of Belle Plaine BanCorp. Inc.
Holdco formation
