The structure of banking organizations within Nebraska has been the subject of numerous legislative proposals, hearings, studies and debates. Although the monumental changes in bank structure that occurred during the decades of the 1980s and 1990s have settled in, this is an area of banking law that will continue to be a dynamic issue. Due to sharp disagreements within the industry and among lawmakers as to what type of banking structure would best achieve competing visions of what is the best public policy for the state, the result has been that bank structure laws may best be described in terms of an ongoing process of design and construct, accommodation and compromise. In addition, there are now federal structure issues that have either restrained or limited both the industry and state legislatures in their attempts to effectuate change. These issues and more are contained in this section of the NBA Compliance Handbook.
The “Bank Structure” section of the Handbook contains historical and descriptive articles on the operational and geographic structure of banking in Nebraska, including bank holding companies and branching authority. This section also provides articles that address other “structure-related issues,” such as branch closings, federal preservation and environment impact laws, bank office and branch names and the generic “wild card” statutory provisions that are normally re-enacted during each Nebraska legislative session.