Title 12Banks and BankingRelease 119-73

§215c Mergers, consolidations, and other acquisitions authorized

Title 12 › Chapter CHAPTER 2— - NATIONAL BANKS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER XVI— - CONSOLIDATION AND MERGER › § 215c

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

National banks may buy or be bought by any insured depository institution, subject to sections 1815(d)(3), 1828(c), and other applicable laws. Any application that must be filed with the Comptroller of the Currency must get a written approval or denial within 60 days of filing. The Comptroller can add 30 more days if the applicant did not give required information or if important information is wrong or incomplete. This does not let a national bank or its subsidiary do things it is not already allowed to do under law. For this rule, “acquire” means getting ownership or control, directly or indirectly, by merger, consolidation, buying assets, or taking on liabilities; after the deal, the acquiring bank may not keep shares of the acquired bank.

Full Legal Text

Title 12, §215c

Banks and Banking — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Subject to section 1815(d)(3) 11 See References in Text note below. and 1828(c) of this title and all other applicable laws, any national bank may acquire or be acquired by any insured depository institution.
(b)(1)Any application by a national bank to acquire or be acquired by another insured depository institution which is required to be filed with the Comptroller of the Currency under any applicable law or regulation shall be approved or disapproved in writing by the agency before the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date such application is filed with the agency.
(2)The period for approval or disapproval referred to in paragraph (1) may be extended for an additional 30-day period if the Comptroller of the Currency determines that—
(A)an applicant has not furnished all of the information required to be submitted; or
(B)in the Comptroller’s judgment, any material information submitted is substantially inaccurate or incomplete.
(c)No provision of this section shall be construed as authorizing a national bank or a subsidiary of a national bank to engage in any activity not otherwise authorized under this Act 1 or any other law governing the powers of national banks.
(d)For purposes of this section, the term “acquire” means to acquire, directly or indirectly, ownership or control through a merger or consolidation or an acquisition of assets or assumption of liabilities, provided that following such merger, consolidation, or acquisition, an acquiring insured depository institution may not own the shares of the acquired insured depository institution.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 1815(d)(3) of this title, referred to in subsec. (a), which related to optional conversions by insured depository institutions subject to special rules on deposit insurance payments, was struck out and former section 1815(d)(1)(C) redesignated section 1815(d)(3) by Pub. L. 109–173, § 8(a)(4), (5)(D), Feb. 15, 2006, 119 Stat. 3610, 3611. This Act, referred to in subsec. (c), probably means the National Bank Act, act June 3, 1864, ch. 106, 13 Stat. 99, which is classified principally to chapter 2 (§ 21 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

References in Text

note set out under section 38 of this title. Codification Section was not enacted as part of act Nov. 7, 1918, ch. 209, as added Sept. 8, 1959, Pub. L. 86–230, § 20, 73 Stat. 460, which comprises this subchapter.

Amendments

1996—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 104–208 substituted “under any applicable law” for “by section 1815(d)(3) of this title or any other applicable law”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

12 U.S.C. § 215c

Title 12Banks and Banking

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73