Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation consults on streamlined branch establishment and relocation rules including three business day deemed approval for expedited filings

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its rules for insured state nonmember banks to establish branches or relocate a main office or branch, with corresponding changes for relocation of insured branches of foreign banks. The proposal would streamline the framework by eliminating certain filing requirements, shortening processing timelines, revising public notice procedures, and updating definitions. Expedited processing would be expanded and simplified, requiring only a written notification with a statement of intent, the exact location, and for relocations confirmation that advance customer notice was provided. A substantially complete expedited filing would be deemed approved within three business days of FDIC receipt, and the FDIC would not have discretion to remove a filing from expedited processing. An “eligible depository institution” could use expedited processing for branch establishment or relocations, and an insured state nonmember bank with a composite rating of 3 or better could complete an intrastate branch relocation under expedited processing. The proposal would also remove the public comment period and local newspaper publication requirement for these actions, remove branch applications from the requirements in Sections 303.7 and 303.10, create a “de minimis change in address” exclusion from the definition of “branch relocation” that would not require an application, and adopt a “remote service unit” definition aligned with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency while keeping remote service units excluded from the FDIC definition of “branch.” The FDIC is seeking public comment on all aspects of the proposal.