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FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK Circular No. 7 4 8 8 1 October 28, 1974 J [ BANK HOLDING COMPANIES Hearing on Operation of a Travel Agency To All Bank Holding Companies, and Others Concerned, in the Second Federal Reserve District: Following is the text of a statement issued October 24 by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: T he B oard of G overnors o f the Federal R eserve System today scheduled an inform al hearing to be held at the B oard on January 14, 1975, on the question whether the operation o f a travel agency should be included am ong activities permissible to bank holding companies. T he B oard ’s order follow ed receipt o f comm ents on its announcement o f September 13, 1974, in which the B oard ordered an oral presentation fo r N ovem ber 7, 1974, on an application by First B ancorp, Inc., Corsicana, T exas, to retain assets o f F irst T ravel A gen cy, and on the general question whether bank holding com panies may operate a travel agency. Requests were received for a hearing separately on the general question and fo r a delay in the p ro ceeding. T he January hearing replaces the previously scheduled N ovem ber proceeding. T h ose wishing to participate in the inform al hearing should file a written request with the Secretary o f the Board, to be received by N ovem ber 18, 1974, stating their interest and summarizing evidence to be presented. T hose who have already filed such inform ation with the Secretary o f the B oard need not do so again. Printed below is the text of the Board’s Order in this matter. As indicated in that Order, written comments thereon may be submitted by February 18, 1975; such written comments may be sent to our Domestic Banking Applications Department. A lfred H a y e s , President. BANK HOLDING COMPANIES Revised Notice of Hearing Regarding Operation of a Travel Agency T he B oard o f G overnors published in the Federal Register on September 19, 1974 (3 9 F .R . 3 3 7 4 1 ), notice of an oral presentation to be held on N ovem ber 7, 1974, on the application o f First B ancorp, Inc., Corsicana, T exas, to retain First T ravel A gen cy, C o r sicana, T exas, and on the issue whether o r not to add the proposed activity to the list o f activities the B oard has previously determined to be closely related to banking. In connection with this notice, a significant number of the members o f the travel agency industry have petitioned that the B oard delay the hearing and that the B oard order a form al hearing on this matter. T h e B oard has reconsidered the matter and has decided to reschedule the proceeding for January 14, 1975, in order that participants be assured adequate time within which to prepare their presentations and secure the participation of expert witnesses. T h e Board has determined, how ever, that a form al hearing is not necessary for the parties to adequately present their case but rather has adopted a procedure whereby par ticipants in the proceeding will have opportunity for rebuttal. T he proceeding will be limited to the issue whether the operation of a travel agency is so closely related to banking or m anaging or controlling banks as to be a proper incident thereto. T h e B oard has adopted the follow in g p ro ce d u re s: ( 1 ) A n y person interested in participating as a party in the hearing must file with the Secretary, B oard o f G overnors o f the Federal R eserve System, W ashington, D . C. 20551, to be received by N ovem ber 18, 1974, a written request containing a statement of the nature of the petitioner’s interest in the proceeding, the extent of participation desired, a summary o f the matters con cerning which the petitioner wishes to give testimony or submit evidence, and the names and identity o f w it nesses w ho propose to appear. Individuals w ho have already filed this inform ation with the Secretary, pur suant to the prior notice, need not file again. ( 2 ) A ll such parties (a ) w ill be notified by the Secretary of the identity of the other parties and of ( over) all issues raised by them and ( b ) will be invited to submit written material to be received by Decem ber 16, 1974. M aterial so submitted must be forw arded to all other parties. ( 3 ) A n y party may submit written comm ents on material submitted by other parties, to be received by January 6 , 1975, and must send copies thereof to all other parties. ( 4 ) E ach party will be given a specified time, n or mally not to exceed 30 minutes, to present his views orally at the hearing to be held before available m em bers o f the B oard on January 14, 1975, at 1 0 :0 0 a.m., in the B oard R o o m o f its building on 20th and C onsti tution A venue, N .W ., W ashington, D. C. (5 ) A ll parties will be given until February 18, 1975, to submit such additional material related to issues raised at the proceeding as they desire. Interested persons need not participate in the oral presentation to have their view s considered but may submit their views in writing to be received by the Secretary no later than February 18, 1975. W ritten comm ents, as they are received, will be made available fo r inspection and copying in R oom 1118 o f the B oard’s building.
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