Arkansas Code Title 23. Public Utilities and Regulated Industries § 23-48-703. Establishment of full-service branch--Standards and procedure

(1) Maintaining a sound banking system;

(2) Encouraging the bank to help meet the credit needs of the community;

(3) Relying on the marketplace as generally the best regulator of economic activity; and

(4) Encouraging healthy competition to promote efficiency and better service to customers.

(1) Paying a filing fee established by State Bank Department rule of not less than three hundred dollars ($300) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500); and

(2) Not less than thirty (30) days prior to filing the application, publishing notice of the application one (1) time per week for four (4) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of statewide circulation.

(1) May establish by rule an expedited application process and procedure for the approval of a healthy bank full-service branch application; and

(2) Shall approve a healthy bank full-service branch application unless the commissioner determines that approving the application is not consistent with the standards provided in subsection (a) of this section.

(d)(1) The commissioner shall give notice of the filing of an application under subsection (b) or subsection (c) of this section to all Arkansas state-chartered banks with a bank or a full service branch currently open and operating within the market area of the proposed new branch.

(2) The procedure for giving notice and the parameters of the market area shall be established by department rule.

(e)(1) A written protest to a full-service branch application may be filed with the commissioner within fifteen (15) days of the filing of the application.

(2) The protest shall include:

(g)(1) The commissioner shall issue an order accepting or rejecting a full-service branch application within a reasonable period of time following the expiration of the fifteen-day protest period under subdivision (e)(1) of this section.

(2) The order shall include specific findings of fact and conclusions of law concerning whether the establishment of the full-service branch is consistent with the standards provided in subsection (a) of this section.