Company: NWBI
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001471265-25-000016
Chunk: 24

Company: Northwest Bancshares, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 24
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 company, without prior written approval of the Federal Reserve Board. In evaluating applications by bank holding companies to acquire banks, the Federal Reserve Board considers, among other factors, the financial and managerial resources and future prospects of the parties, the effect of the acquisition on the risk to the DIF, the convenience and needs of the community, competitive factors and compliance with anti-money laundering laws. 

Late in the Biden administration, the standards by which bank and financial institution acquisitions would be evaluated have been undergoing review and change by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”), FDIC and U.S Department of Justice (the “DOJ”), but not by the Federal Reserve Board. In September 2024, the FDIC and the DOJ finalized changes to their bank merger review policies in the form of non-binding guidance. Whether and how the guidance might be further changed or interpreted by the Trump administration is uncertain.  The FDIC’s final policy statement addresses, among other things, the scope of transactions subject to FDIC approval. The final policy statement also addresses a more rigorous FDIC process for evaluating Bank Merger Act applications, and the FDIC Board’s heightened expectations with respect to the Bank Merger Act’s statutory factors. 

In addition, the DOJ withdrew its 1995 Bank Merger Guidelines and issued the 2024 Banking Addendum to 2023 Merger Guidelines (“2024 Banking Addendum”). The DOJ clarified that it will assess competition considerations in connection with bank and bank holding company mergers using its 2023 Merger Guidelines, which is the general merger review framework the DOJ now uses to evaluate transactions in all segments of the economy, and 2024 Banking Addendum. The 2024 Banking Addendum provides guidance on how the DOJ will assess competition in the specific context of bank and bank holding company mergers. An analysis under the 2023 Merger Guidelines and 2024 Banking Addendum may include consideration of theories of harm and relevant markets not considered under the 1995 Bank Merger Guidelines, which focused primarily on concentrations of deposits and branches. The effects of these changes and the Trump administration’s interpretation of merger policies remain uncertain.

Acquisition of the Company

Any holder, other than an individual, of 25% or more of a class of the Company’s voting stock, or a lesser percentage if such holder otherwise exercises a “controlling influence” over the Company, is subject to regulation as a bank holding company under the BHCA. In addition, any person other than a bank