On June 20, 2024, the FDIC Board approved a resolution I proposed to require recurring briefings to the full Board on any merger or deposit insurance application (“covered application”) outstanding for more than nine months.1 This requirement became effective this month, with the first set of required briefings held during the closed session of our Board meeting today.2
Leading up to the June Board meeting, there were 11 covered applications pending that had been outstanding for more than nine months, with a dozen more poised to cross the 9-month threshold between the June and October Board meetings if not resolved sooner. Over the last 2½ years, the number of covered applications outstanding for more than nine months at any given time has consistently hovered around 10, and several of these applications have lingered significantly longer than nine months.
Today, the staff briefed the Board on three applications – the only covered applications currently pending that have crossed the 9-month threshold. The last time the FDIC had only three covered applications outstanding for more than nine months was October 2021, in the final months of the prior Chairman’s term.
As I noted in June, the primary intent behind the proposal was “to motivate faster processing of applications.”3 While there is still much work to do on improving the application review process, I appreciate staff’s diligent work over the past few months, and hope the positive trend continues.
| 1 | See Travis Hill, Statement on the Memorandum and Resolution Regarding Merger and Deposit Insurance Application Review Process (June 20, 2024) (“Hill Statement”). |
| 2 | The initial briefings were required at the first regular Board meeting to occur more than 90 days after adoption of the Resolution. The purpose of the delayed effective date was to provide staff an opportunity to resolve pending applications before the briefing requirement first kicked in. |
| 3 | Hill Statement, supra note 1. |