4534 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 20 / Thursday, January 30, 1997 / Notices

Formations of, Acquisitions by, and

Mergers of Bank Holding Companies

The companies listed in this notice

have applied to the Board for approval,

pursuant to the Bank Holding Company

Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.)

(BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR Part

225), and all other applicable statutes

and regulations to become a bank

holding company and/or to acquire the

assets or the ownership of, control of, or

the power to vote shares of a bank or

bank holding company and all of the

banks and nonbanking companies

owned by the bank holding company,

including the companies listed below.

The applications listed below, as well

as other related filings required by the

Board, are available for immediate

inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank

indicated. Once the application has

been accepted for processing, it will also

be available for inspection at the offices

of the Board of Governors. Interested

persons may express their views in

writing on the standards enumerated in

the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the

proposal also involves the acquisition of

a nonbanking company, the review also

includes whether the acquisition of the

nonbanking company complies with the

standards in section 4 of the BHC Act,

including whether the acquisition of the

nonbanking company can ‘‘reasonably

be expected to produce benefits to the

public, such as greater convenience,

increased competition, or gains in

efficiency, that outweigh possible

adverse effects, such as undue

concentration of resources, decreased or

unfair competition, conflicts of

interests, or unsound banking practices’’

(12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise

noted, nonbanking activities will be

conducted throughout the United States.

Unless otherwise noted, comments

regarding each of these applications

must be received at the Reserve Bank

indicated or the offices of the Board of

Governors not later than February 25,

1997.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of New

York (Christopher J. McCurdy, Senior

Vice President) 33 Liberty Street, New

York, New York 10045-0001:

1. Amboy Bancorporation, Old Bridge,

New Jersey; to acquire 9.9 percent of the

voting shares of The Community Bank

of New Jersey, Freehold, New Jersey (in

organization).

B. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

(R. Chris Moore, Senior Vice President)

1455 East Sixth Street, Cleveland, Ohio

44101-2566:

1. F.N.B. Corporation, Hermitage,

Pennsylvania, and Southwest Banks,

Inc., Naples, Florida; to acquire 100

percent of the voting shares of West

Coast Bancorp, Inc., Cape Coral, Florida,

and thereby indirectly acquire First

National Bank of Southwest Florida,

Cape Coral, Florida.

C. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

(Lois Berthaume, Vice President) 104

Marietta Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia

30303-2713:

1. Regions Financial Corporation,

Birmingham, Alabama; to merge with

West Carroll Bancshares, Inc., Oak

Grove, Louisiana, and thereby indirectly

acquire West Carroll National Bank of

Oak Grove, Oak Grove, Louisiana.

D. Federal Reserve Bank of

Richmond (Lloyd W. Bostian, Jr., Senior

Vice President) 701 East Byrd Street,

Richmond, Virginia 23261-4528:

1. Peoples Bancorp, Inc., Chestertown,

Maryland; to become a bank holding

company by acquiring 100 percent of

the voting shares of Peoples Bank of

Kent County, Maryland, Chestertown,

Maryland.

E. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas

City (John E. Yorke, Senior Vice

President) 925 Grand Avenue, Kansas

City, Missouri 64198-0001:

1. FirstBank Holding Company of

Colorado, Lakewood, Colorado; to

acquire 100 percent of the voting shares

of FirstBank of Evergreen, Lakewood,

Colorado.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, January 27, 1997.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 97–2339 Filed 1–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–F

Signet Banking Corporation,

Richmond, Virginia; Notice to Engage

in Certain Nonbanking Activities

Signet Banking Corporation,

Richmond, Virginia (Notificant), has

provided notice pursuant to section

4(c)(8) of the Bank Holding Company

Act (12 USC 1843(c)(8)) (BHC Act) and

§ 225.23 of the Board’s Regulation Y (12

CFR 225.23) of its intention to acquire

49.99 percent of a limited liability

company (tentatively to be titled ‘‘SoHo

CFO, L.L.C.’’) (Company), a de novo

joint venture with United Video

Satellite Group, Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma,

and thereby engage in certain data

processing and transmission activities

pursuant to § 225.25(b)(7) of Regulation

Y (12 CFR 225.25(b)(7)), management

consulting to depository institutions

pursuant to § 225.25(b)(11) of

Regulation Y (12 CFR 225.25(b)(11)),

and related incidental activities.

Company proposes to conduct these

activities nationwide.

Notificant proposes that Company

develop and maintain a Web site

(‘‘SoHo Web site’’), accessible via the

Internet, targeted to business owners

and managers, with particular emphasis

on small office and home office

businesses. In this regard, Company

would provide an electronic interface or

communications gateway through

which customers could: (1) obtain

information on and access, via the

Internet, business banking or financial

services offered by Notificant and its

banking and nonbanking subsidiaries;

(2) obtain information on and access, via

the Internet, business banking and

financial services provided by other

depository institutions; and (3) obtain

information on and access Internet sites

of selected providers of other financial

products or services, including payroll,

insurance, retirement planning, and

investment and brokerage services, and

financial educational information.

Company also would advise

participating depository institutions on

the design and implementation of their

Home Pages on the SoHo Web site and

electronic commerce initiatives, as well

as provide marketing and technical

support to these institutions. Customers

also would be able to effectuate

payments for products and services

through Company’s system by using

credit cards or an ‘‘electronic wallet’’

made available by a third party

provider. Company also would engage

in various activities which it maintains

are incidental to the foregoing,

including the provision of information

on and access to, via the Internet,

nonfinancial business products and

services (such as office supply,

marketing, and human resources

products and services), making available

to its customers the Internet

acces30products and services of third

party providers, and offering on-line

access to business educational

information.

Section 4(c)(8) of the BHC Act

provides that a bank holding company

may, with Board approval, engage in

any activity which the Board, after due

notice and opportunity for hearing in

the case of an acquisition of a savings

association, has determined to be so

closely related to banking or managing

or controlling banks as to be a proper

incident thereto. In publishing the

proposal for comment, the Board does

not take a position on issues raised by

the proposal. Notice of the proposal is

published solely to seek the views of

interested persons on the issues

presented by the application and does

not represent a determination by the

Board that the proposal meets, or is
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 20 / Thursday, January 30, 1997 / Notices 4535

likely to meet, the standards of the BHC

Act.

Any comments must be submitted in

writing and received by William W.

Wiles, Secretary, Board of Governors of

the Federal Reserve System,

Washington, D.C. 20551, not later than

February 13, 1997.

This application may be inspected at

the offices of the Board of Governors or

the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, January 24, 1997.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 97–2284 Filed 1–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–F

Notice of Proposals to Engage in

Permissible Nonbanking Activities or

To Acquire Companies That Are

Engaged in Permissible Nonbanking

Activities

The companies listed in this notice

have given notice under section 4 of the

Bank Holding Company Act (12 U.S.C.

1843) (BHC Act) and Regulation

Y, (12 CFR Part 225) to engage de novo,

or to acquire or control voting securities

or assets of a company that engages

either directly or through a subsidiary or

other company, in a nonbanking activity

that is listed in § 225.25 of Regulation

Y (12 CFR 225.25) or that the Board has

determined by Order to be closely

related to banking and permissible for

bank holding companies. Unless

otherwise noted, these activities will be

conducted throughout the United States.

Each notice is available for inspection

at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated.

Once the notice has been accepted for

processing, it will also be available for

inspection at the offices of the Board of

Governors. Interested persons may

express their views in writing on the

question whether the proposal complies

with the standards of section 4 of the

BHC Act, including whether

consummation of the proposal can

‘‘reasonably be expected to produce

benefits to the public, such as greater

convenience, increased competition, or

gains in efficiency, that outweigh

possible adverse effects, such as undue

concentration of resources, decreased or

unfair competition, conflicts of

interests, or unsound banking practices’’

(12 U.S.C. 1843). Any request for a

hearing on this question must be

accompanied by a statement of the

reasons a written presentation would

not suffice in lieu of a hearing,

identifying specifically any questions of

fact that are in dispute, summarizing the

evidence that would be presented at a

hearing, and indicating how the party

commenting would be aggrieved by

approval of the proposal.

Unless otherwise noted, comments

regarding the applications must be

received at the Reserve Bank indicated

or the offices of the Board of Governors

not later than February 13, 1997.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

(Lois Berthaume, Vice President) 104

Marietta Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia

30303-2713:

1. Republic Bancshares, Inc., St.

Petersburg, Florida; to acquire Firstate

Financial, F.A., Orlando, Florida, and

thereby engage in operating a savings

association, pursuant to § 225.25(b)(9)

of the Board’s Regulation Y. The

proposed activity will be conducted

throughout the State of Florida.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, January 24, 1997.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 97–2282 Filed 1–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–F

FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT

INVESTMENT BOARD

Sunshine Act Meeting

TIME AND DATE: 10:00 a.m. (EST),

February 10, 1997.

PLACE: 4th Floor, Conference Room

4506, 1250 H Street, N.W., Washington,

D.C.

STATUS: Open.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

1. Approval of the minutes of the January

13, 1997, Board member meeting.

2. Thrift Savings Plan activity report by the

Executive Director.

3. Review of investment policy.

4. Review of KPMG Peat Marwick audit

report: ‘‘Pension and Welfare Benefits

Administration Review of Thrift Savings Plan

C and F Fund Investment Management

Operations at Barclays Global Investors,

N.A.’’

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Thomas J. Trabucco, Director, Office of

External Affairs, (202) 942–1640.

Dated: January 28, 1997.

Roger W. Mehle,

Executive Director, Federal Retirement Thrift

Investment Board.

[FR Doc. 97–2461 Filed 1–28–97; 2:46 pm]

BILLING CODE 6760–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

Advisory Committees; Notice of

Meetings

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration,

HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces

forthcoming meetings of public advisory

committees of the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA). This notice also

summarizes the procedures for the

meetings and methods by which

interested persons may participate in

open public hearings before FDA’s

advisory committees.

FDA has established an Advisory

Committee Information Hotline (the

hotline) using a voice-mail telephone

system. The hotline provides the public

with access to the most current

information on FDA advisory committee

meetings. The advisory committee

hotline, which will disseminate current

information and information updates,

can be accessed by dialing 1–800–741–

8138 or 301–443–0572. Each advisory

committee is assigned a 5-digit number.

This 5-digit number will appear in each

individual notice of meeting. The

hotline will enable the public to obtain

information about a particular advisory

committee by using the committee’s 5-

digit number. Information in the hotline

is preliminary and may change before a

meeting is actually held. The hotline

will be updated when such changes are

made.

MEETINGS: The following advisory

committee meetings are announced:

Arthritis Advisory Committee

Date, time, and place. February 4,

1997, 8:30 a.m., and February 5, 1997,

8 a.m., Gaithersburg Hilton, Ballroom,

620 Perry Pkwy., Gaithersburg, MD.

Type of meeting and contact person.

Open public hearing, February 4, 1997,

8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., unless public

participation does not last that long;

open committee discussion, 9 a.m. to 5

p.m.; open public hearing, February 5,

1997, 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., unless public

participation does not last that long;

open committee discussion, 8:30 a.m. to

5 p.m.; Kathleen R. Reedy or LaNise S.

Giles, Center for Drug Evaluation and

Research (HFD–21), Food and Drug

Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane,

Rockville, MD 20857, 301–443–5455,

FAX: 301–443–0699, or FDA Advisory

Committee Information Hotline, 1–800–

741–8138 (301–443–0572 in the

Washington, DC area), Arthritis