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FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
OF NEW YORK
AT-iO T O ^ )
August 9, 1995
Public Meetings in August on Proposed Acquisition
of Shawmut National Corporation by Fleet Financial Group
Comment Period on Application Extended to September 12
To the Chief Executive Officers of all Depository Institutions
and Bank Holding Companies in the Second Federal Reserve District:
Following is the text of a statement issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System:
The Federal Reserve Board has announced that public meetings will be held in Boston,
Hartford, and Albany, beginning on August 26, in connection with the applications of Fleet
Financial Group, Inc., to acquire Shawmut National Corporation.
The purpose of these meetings is to collect information concerning the effect of this
proposal on the convenience and needs of the communities to be served, including the records
of performance of the institutions under the Community Reinvestment Act.
The specific dates, times and locations of the meetings are:
Boston — Saturday, August 26, beginning at 9:00 a.m., E.D.T., at the Federal Reserve Bank
of Boston, 600 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02106.
Hartford — Monday, August 28, beginning at 12:00 noon, E.D.T., at the Wild Auditorium,
Gray Conference Center, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford,
Connecticut, 06117.
Albany — Tuesday, August 29, beginning at 12:00 noon, E.D.T., at the New York State
Museum, Museum Theater, West Gallery, Cultural Education Center, Empire State Plaza,
Madison Avenue, Albany, New York, 12230.
To accommodate all interested persons, the meetings in Hartford and Albany will extend
into the evening hours.
Persons desiring to testify at any of the meetings should submit a written request by August
16, identifying which meeting they wish to attend and containing a brief statement of the nature
of the expected testimony and the estimated time required for the presentation (together with
their address, telephone number, and facsimile number) to William W. Wiles, Secretary of the
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20551. Persons interested only in attending a meeting need not submit a
written request.
On the basis of the requests to testify, the presiding officer of each meeting will establish
a schedule of appearances and prescribe all necessary procedures to ensure that the public
meetings proceed in a fair and orderly manner. An agenda for each meeting, which will include
the scheduled time for each person’s testimony, will be provided to participants at a later date.
The Federal Reserve Board today also announced that it will extend the comment period on
these applications through September 12, 1995. This extension of the comment period will
permit interested parties approximately 60 days in which to submit comments on the
applications.
Printed on the following pages is a copy of the Board’s Notice of Public Meetings, setting
forth the procedures to be followed at the meetings, and the Notice of Extension of the Comment
Period.
B. F e l d b e r g ,
Executive Vice President.
C
hester
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Fleet Financial Group, Inc.
Providence, Rhode Island
Notice of Public Meetings
Boston, Massachusetts
Hartford, Connecticut
Albany, New York
Background and Public Meeting Notice
On July 7, 1995, Fleet Financial Group, Inc., Providence, Rhode
Island ("Fleet"), applied pursuant to sections 3 and 4 o f the Bank Holding
Company Act (12 U.S.C . §§ 1842, 1843) ("BHC Act") to acquire Shawmut
National Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut
("Shawmut"), and thereby to acquire the banking and nonbanking subsidiaries
of Shawmut. Under authority delegated by the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System ("Board") in section 265.6(a)(2) of the Board’s Rules,
the General Counsel of the Board hereby orders that public meetings on the
applications be held in Boston, Massachusetts; Hartford, Connecticut; and
Albany, New York, beginning August 26, 1995, to collect information on the
convenience and needs of the communities to be served by this proposal,
including the records of performance of these institutions under the Community
Reinvestment Act ("CRA").
The public meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, will be held on
Saturday, August 26, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 600 Atlantic
Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02106. The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m.,
E.D .T.
The public meeting in Hartford, Connecticut, will be held on
Monday, August 28, at the Wild Auditorium, Gray Conference Center,
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University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, Connecticut,
06117. The meeting will begin at 12:00 noon, E.D.T.
The public meeting in Albany, New York, will be held on
Tuesday, August 29, at the New York State Museum, Museum Theater, West
Gallery, Cultural Education Center, Empire State Plaza, Madison Avenue,
Albany, New York, 12230. The meeting will begin at 12:00 noon, E.D.T.
To accommodate interested persons, the public meetings in
Hartford, Connecticut, and Albany, New York, will include evening hours
scheduled for testimony.
Purpose and Procedures
The purpose of the public meetings is to receive information
regarding the convenience and needs of the communities to be served by this
proposal, including the records of performance of Fleet and Shawmut under the
CRA. The CRA requires the appropriate federal financial supervisory agency
to "assess [an] institution’s record of meeting the credit needs of its entire
community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent
with the safe and sound operation of [the] institution."
12 U.S.C. § 2903. The
Board, as a federal financial supervisory agency, is required to take this record
into account in its evaluation of an application under section 3 of the BHC Act.
The public meetings are convened under the Board’s policy
statement regarding informal meetings in section 262.25(d) of the Board’s Rules
(12 C.F.R. 225.25(d)). This policy statement provides that the purpose of a
public meeting is to elicit information, to clarify factual issues related to an
application, and to provide testimony. In contrast to a formal administrative
hearing, the rules for taking evidence in an administrative proceeding will not
apply to these public meetings. Testimony at the public meetings will be
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presented to a panel consisting of a Presiding Officer, Griffith L. Garwood,
Director of the Board’s Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, or his
designee, and other panel members appointed by the Presiding Officer. These
panel members may question witnesses, but no cross-examination of witnesses
will be permitted.
In conducting each public meeting, the Presiding Officer will have
the authority and discretion to ensure that the meeting proceeds in a fair and
orderly manner. The public meetings will be transcribed and information
regarding procedures for obtaining a copy of the transcripts will be announced
at the public meetings.
All persons wishing to testify at the public meetings should submit
a written request to William W. Wiles, Secretary of the Board, Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue,
N.W., Washington, D.C., 20551 (facsimile: (202/452-3819), not later than
August 16, 1995, providing the following information:
(i) identification of
which meeting they wish to attend, (ii) a brief statement of the nature of the
expected testimony and the estimated time required for the presentation,
(iii) address and telephone number (and facsimile number, if available), and
(iv) identification of any special needs, such as persons desiring translation
services, persons with a physical disability who may need assistance, or persons
using visual aids for their presentation. To the extent available, translators will
be provided to persons wishing to present their views in a language other than
English if they include this information in their request to testify. Persons
interested only in attending a meeting do not need to submit a written request to
attend.
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On the basis of the requests received, the Presiding Officer will
prepare a schedule for persons wishing to testify. Persons not listed on the
schedule may be permitted to speak at the public meetings at the discretion of
the Presiding Officer if time permits at the conclusion of the schedule of
witnesses. Copies of testimony may, but need not, be filed with the Presiding
Officer before a person’s presentation.
By order of the General Counsel of the Board of Governors,
acting pursuant to authority delegated by the Board of Governors, effective
July 27, 1995.
William W. Wiles
Secretary of the Board
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Fleet Financial Group, Inc.
Providence, Rhode Island
Extension of the Comment Period
On July 7, 1995, Fleet Financial Group, Inc., Providence, Rhode
Island, applied pursuant to sections 3 and 4 of the Bank Holding Company Act
(12 U.S.C. §§ 1842, 1843) to acquire Shawmut National Corporation, Boston,
Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut ("Shawmut"), and thereby to acquire
the banking and nonbanking subsidiaries of Shawmut. Notice of the
applications was published on Friday, July 21, 1995, at page 37,642 of the
Federal Register. The comment period for the application originally was
scheduled to expire on August 18, 1995. This notice is to announce the
extension of the comment period until September 12, 1995. Comments on the
applications should be submitted in writing and received by William W. Wiles,
Secretary of the Board, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,
20th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20551, no later
than September 12, 1995.
William W. Wiles
Secretary of the Board
@FedFRASER