§ 23-48-703 - Establishment of full-service branch -- Standards and procedure. - Arkansas Statutes

23-48-703. Establishment of full-service branch -- Standards and procedure.

(a) The Bank Commissioner shall have the authority to approve the application of a state bank to establish a full-service branch if the commissioner determines that the establishment of the full-service branch is consistent with:

(1) Maintaining a sound banking system;

(2) Encouraging the bank to help meet the credit needs of the community;

(3) Relying on the marketplace as generally the best regulator of economic activity; and

(4) Encouraging healthy competition to promote efficiency and better service to customers.

(b) The sponsor of a full-service branch application may file an application with the commissioner by:

(1) Paying a filing fee established by State Bank Department regulation of not less than three hundred dollars ($300) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500); and

(2) Not less than thirty (30) days prior to filing the application, publishing notice of the application one (1) time per week for four (4) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of statewide circulation.

(c) The commissioner:

(1) May establish by regulation an expedited application process and procedure for the approval of a healthy bank full-service branch application; and

(2) Shall approve a healthy bank full-service branch application unless the commissioner determines that approving the application is not consistent with the standards provided in subsection (a) of this section.

(d) (1) The commissioner shall give notice of the filing of an application under subsection (b) or subsection (c) of this section to all Arkansas state-chartered banks with a bank or a full service branch currently open and operating within the market area of the proposed new branch.

(2) The procedure for giving notice and the parameters of the market area shall be established by State Bank Department regulation.

(e) (1) A written protest to a full-service branch application may be filed with the commissioner within fifteen (15) days of the filing of the application.

(2) The protest shall include:

(A) A detailed explanation of the protesting party's reasons why the commissioner should deny the application; and

(B) A filing fee established by department regulation of not less than three hundred dollars ($300) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500).

(f) The commissioner may conduct an adjudicatory or administrative hearing on a full-service branch application.

(g) (1) The commissioner shall issue an order accepting or rejecting a full-service branch application within a reasonable period of time following the expiration of the fifteen-day protest period under subdivision (d)(1) of this section.

(2) The order shall include specific findings of fact and conclusions of law concerning whether the establishment of the full-service branch is consistent with the standards provided in subsection (a) of this section.

(h) Within thirty (30) days after the commissioner issues an order accepting or rejecting a full-service branch application, an applicant or a party that filed a protest to the full-service branch application may appeal the commissioner's order to the circuit court of the county where the full-service branch will be established.