Applications under this subpart. Any filing with the Board required under this subpart must be filed in accordance with § 238.14 of this chapter. The Board will review any filing made under this subpart in accordance with § 238.14 of this chapter.

Requirements. (1) The application for conversion must include all of the following information.

A plan of conversion meeting the requirements of § 239.54(b).

Pricing materials meeting the requirements paragraph (g)(2) of this section.

Proxy soliciting materials under § 239.57(d), including:

A preliminary proxy statement with signed financial statements;

A form of proxy meeting the requirements of § 239.57(b); and

Any additional proxy soliciting materials, including press releases, personal solicitation instructions, radio or television scripts that the mutual holding company plans to use or furnish to the members, and a legal opinion indicating that any marketing materials comply with all applicable securities laws.

An offering circular described in § 239.58(a).

The documents and information required by Form AC. The mutual holding company may obtain Form AC from the appropriate Reserve Bank and the Board's Web site (http://www.federalreserve.gov).

Where indicated, written consents, signed and dated, of any accountant, attorney, investment banker, appraiser, or other professional who prepared, reviewed, passed upon, or certified any statement, report, or valuation for use. See Form AC, instruction B(7).

The business plan, submitted as a separately bound, confidential exhibit. See paragraph (c) of this section.

Any additional information the Board requests.

The Board will not accept for filing, and will return, any application for conversion that is improperly executed, materially deficient, substantially incomplete, or that provides for unreasonable conversion expenses.

Filing an application for conversion. (1) The mutual holding company must file the application for conversion on Form AC with the appropriate Reserve Bank.

Upon receipt of an application under this subpart, the Reserve Bank will promptly furnish notice and a copy of the application to the primary federal supervisor of any subsidiary savings association. The primary supervisor will have 30 calendar days from the date of the letter giving notice in which to submit its views and recommendations to the Board.

Confidential treatment of portions of an application for conversion. (1) The Board makes all filings under this subpart available to the public, but may keep portions of the application for conversion confidential under paragraph (d)(2) of this section.

The mutual holding company may request the Board keep portions of the application confidential. To do so, the mutual holding company must separately bind and clearly designate as “confidential” any portion of the application for conversion that the mutual holding company deems confidential. The mutual holding company must provide a written statement specifying the grounds supporting the request for confidentiality. The Board will not treat as confidential the portion of the application describing how the mutual holding company plans to meet the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) objectives. The CRA portion of the application may not incorporate by reference information contained in the confidential portion of the application.

The Board will determine whether confidential information must be made available to the public under 5 U.S.C. 552 and part 261 of this chapter. The Board will advise the mutual holding company before it makes information the mutual holding company designated as “confidential” available to the public.

Amending an application for conversion. To amend an application for conversion, the mutual holding company must:

File an amendment with an appropriate facing sheet;

Number each amendment consecutively;

Respond to all issues raised by the Board; and

Demonstrate that the amendment conforms to all applicable regulations.

Notice of filing of application and comment process—(1) Public notice of an application for conversion. (i) The mutual holding company must publish a public notice of the application for conversion in accordance with the procedures in § 238.14 of this chapter. The mutual holding company must simultaneously prominently post the notice in its home office and in all of the branch offices of its subsidiary savings associations.

Promptly after publication, the mutual holding company must file a copy of any public notice and an affidavit of publication from each publisher with the appropriate Reserve Bank.

If the Board does not accept the application for conversion under § 239.55(g) and requires the mutual holding company to file a new application, the mutual holding company must publish and post a new notice and allow an additional 30 days for comment.

Public comments. Commenters may submit comments on the application in accordance with the procedures in § 238.14 of this chapter. A commenter must file any comments with the appropriate Reserve Bank.

Board review of the application for conversion—(1) Board action on a conversion application. The Board may approve an application for conversion only if:

The conversion complies with this subpart;

The mutual holding company will meet all applicable regulatory capital requirements after the conversion; and

The conversion will not result in a taxable reorganization under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Board review of appraisal. The Board will review the appraisal required by paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section in determining whether to approve the application. The Board will review the appraisal under the following requirements.

Independent persons experienced and expert in corporate appraisal, and acceptable to the Board, must prepare the appraisal report.

An affiliate of the appraiser may serve as an underwriter or selling agent, if the mutual holding company ensures that the appraiser is separate from the underwriter or selling agent affiliate and the underwriter or selling agent affiliate does not make recommendations or affect the appraisal.

The appraiser may not receive any fee in connection with the conversion other than for appraisal services.

The appraisal report must include a complete and detailed description of the elements of the appraisal, a justification for the appraisal methodology, and sufficient support for the conclusions.

If the appraisal is based on a capitalization of the pro forma income, it must indicate the basis for determining the income to be derived from the sale of shares, and demonstrate that the earnings multiple used is appropriate, including future earnings growth assumptions.

If the appraisal is based on a comparison of the shares with outstanding shares of existing stock associations, the existing stock associations must be reasonably comparable in size, market area, competitive conditions, risk profile, profit history, and expected future earnings.

The Board may decline to process the application for conversion and deem it materially deficient or substantially incomplete if the initial appraisal report is materially deficient or substantially incomplete.

The mutual holding company may not represent or imply that the Board has approved the appraisal.

Board review of compliance record. The Board will review the compliance record of the subsidiary savings association under the regulations applicable to the savings association and the business plan to determine how the conversion will affect the convenience and needs of its communities.

Based on this review, the Board may approve the application, deny the application, or approve the application on the condition that the resulting stock holding company will improve the CRA performance or will address the particular credit or lending needs of the communities that it will serve.

The Board may deny the application if the business plan does not demonstrate that the proposed use of conversion proceeds will help the resulting stock holding company to meet the credit and lending needs of the communities that the resulting stock holding company will serve.

The Board may request that the mutual holding company amend the application if further explanation is necessary, material is missing, or material must be corrected.

The Board will deny the application if the application does not meet the requirements of this subpart, unless the Board waives the requirement under § 239.50(c).

Judicial review. (1) Any person aggrieved by the Board's final action on the application for conversion may ask the court of appeals of the United States for the circuit in which the principal office or residence of such person is located, or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to review the action under 12 U.S.C. 1467a(j), which provisions shall apply in all respects as if such final action were an order, subject to paragraph (h)(2) of this section.

To obtain court review of the action, the aggrieved person must file a written petition requesting that the court modify, terminate, or set aside the final Board action. The aggrieved person must file the petition with the court within the later of 30 days after the Board publishes notice of its final action in the Federal Register or 30 days after the mutual holding company mails the proxy statement to its members under § 239.56(c).