Orders issued under Bank Holding Company Act - Legal Developments - Mizuho Financial Group

Federal Reserve Bulletin, April, 2003 by Robert deV. Frierson

In reviewing the effect of the proposal on the convenience and needs of the communities to be served, the Board has carefully considered all the facts of record, including the views of the commenter, the Applicants' response, and reports of examinations of CRA performance of the institutions involved. Based on the review of the entire record and for the reasons discussed above, the Board concludes that considerations relating to the convenience and needs factor, including the CRA performance records of the relevant depository institutions, are consistent with approval. (13)

Other Supervisory Considerations

Section 3 of the BHC Act also provides that the Board may not approve an application involving a foreign bank unless the bank is subject to comprehensive consolidated supervision or regulation on a consolidated basis by the appropriate authorities in the bank's home country. (14) The Board has previously determined in applications under the BHC Act that certain Japanese commercial banks, including The Fuji Bank, Ltd., The Industrial Bank of Japan, Ltd., and The Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Ltd., were subject to comprehensive consolidated supervision by their home country supervisor. (15) In this case, the Board has determined that MHAT and Mizuho Corporate Bank are supervised on substantially the same terms and conditions as the other Japanese banks. In addition, the Board also has previously considered the supervisory regime in Japan with respect to bank holding companies, including Mizuho Holdings, and determined that supervisory factors are consistent with approval. Applicants have stated that there would be no change in the supervision of the Mizuho group as a result of the proposed restructuring.

In addition, section 3 of the BHC Act requires the Board to determine that applicants have provided adequate assurances that they will make available to the Board such information on their operations and activities and those of their affiliates that the Board deems appropriate to determine and enforce compliance with the BHC Act. (16) The Board has reviewed the restrictions on disclosure in jurisdictions where Applicants would have material operations and has communicated with relevant government authorities concerning access to information. Applicants have committed that, to the extent not prohibited by applicable law; each will make available to the Board such information on the operations of their affiliates that the Board deems necessary to determine and enforce compliance with the BHC Act and other applicable federal law. Applicants also have committed to cooperate with the Board to obtain any waivers or exemptions that may be necessary to enable their affiliates to make any such information available to the Board. In light of these commitments, the Board has concluded that Applicants have provided adequate assurances of access to any appropriate information the Board may request. For these reasons, and based on all the facts of record, the Board has concluded that the supervisory factors it is required to consider under section 3(c)(3) of the BHC Act are consistent with approval.