I. INTRODUCTION
Neb.Rev.Stat. § 8-115.01 provides for the procedures to be utilized when a bank desires to transfer its bank charter and move the bank’s main office to another location. The bank must make application for to do so with the Director of the Nebraska Department of Banking & Finance (“Director”). The application, which is entitled “Main Office Relocation Application,” may be accessed by going to the Department of Banking’s website: https://ndbf.nebraska.gov/ and searching for "Main Office Relocation Application."
II. HEARING DETERMINATION AND PROCEDURE
When a bank makes an application for transfer of its bank charter and move the main office of the bank to any location other than within the corporate limits of the city or village of its original charter (or if the bank charter is not located in a city or village, then for transfer outside the county in which it is located), the Director must hold a hearing on the matter if he or she determines, in his or her discretion, that the condition of the applicant warrants a hearing.
If the Director determines that the condition of the applicant does not warrant a hearing, the Director will publish a notice of the filing of the application in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the proposed main office and charter of the applicant would be located and give notice of such application to all financial institutions located within the county where the proposed main office and charter would be located. Notice will also be given to any other interested parties as the Director may determine. If the Director receives any substantive objection to the proposed relocation within 15 days after the first day of publication, the Director must hold a hearing on the application. Notice of a hearing must be published for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the main office would be located. The date for hearing the application must be not less than 30 days after the last publication of notice of hearing and not more than 90 days after the application has been accepted for filing by the Director as substantially complete, unless the applicant agrees to a later date.
When an application is made for a move of any bank's main office within the city, village or county, if not chartered within a city or village of its original charter, the director must publish notice of the proposed move in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the main office of the applicant is located and must give notice of the intended move to all financial institutions located within the county where the bank is located. If the director receives a substantive objection to such move within 15 days after publishing the notice, the Director will publish an additional notice and hold a hearing.
NOTE: When the officers or directors of the bank make an application for transfer of a main office and charter, there is a rebuttable presumption that such persons are parties of integrity and responsibility.
III. EXCEPTION TO HEARING PROCEDURE With the approval of the Director of the Nebraska Department of Banking & Finance, a bank may move its main office and charter to the location of a branch of the bank without public notice or hearing as long as the condition of the bank, in the discretion of the Director, does not warrant a hearing and the branch is located in Nebraska, has been in operation for at least one year as a branch of the bank or was acquired by the bank pursuant to § 8-1506 or § 8-1516 (acquisition and merger statutes) and is simultaneously relocated to the original main office location.
IV. NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT CONSIDERATION
A “National Historic Preservation Act Form” may also need to be completed. Although a federal issue, the form and instructions to the form may be found on the Department of Banking’s website at https://ndbf.nebraska.gov/ and searching for "National Histroic Preservation Act Form." An article addressing this issue, entitled “Main Office and Branch Locations: The National Historic Preservation Act” may be found in this section of the NBA Compliance Handbook.