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(a) The Bank Commissioner shall have the authority to approve the application of a state bank to establish a full-service branch if the commissioner determines that the establishment of the full-service branch is consistent with:
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(1) Maintaining a sound banking system;
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(2) Encouraging the bank to help meet the credit needs of the community;
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(3) Relying on the marketplace as generally the best regulator of economic activity; and
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(4) Encouraging healthy competition to promote efficiency and better service to customers.
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(b) The sponsor of a full-service branch application may file an application with the commissioner by:
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(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
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(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.
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(c) The commissioner:
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(1) May establish by rule an expedited application process and procedure for the approval of a healthy bank full-service branch application; and
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(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.
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(d)
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(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.
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(2) The procedure for giving notice and the parameters of the market area shall be established by department rule.
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(e)
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(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.
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(2) The protest shall include:
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(A) A detailed explanation of the protesting party’s reasons why the commissioner should deny the application; and
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(B) A filing fee established by department rule of not less than three hundred dollars ($300) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500).
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(f) The commissioner may conduct an adjudicatory or administrative hearing on a full-service branch application.
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(g)
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(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 (d)(1) of this section.
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(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.
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(h) Within thirty (30) days after the commissioner issues an order accepting or rejecting a full-service branch application, an applicant or a party that filed a protest to the full-service branch application may appeal the commissioner’s order to the circuit court of the county where the full-service branch will be established.
