Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 237 / Friday, December 8, 2000 / Notices 77029

Utilities Commission (Minnesota PUC)

has filed a petition, pursuant to § 54.207

of the Commission’s rules, requesting

the Commission’s consent to its

proposed alternative ‘‘service area’’

definition for Frontier Communications

of Minnesota, Inc. (Frontier). The

Minnesota PUC proposes to adopt a

definition of service area that differs

from Frontier’s ‘‘study area’’ for the

purpose of determining universal

service obligations and support

mechanisms. Specifically, the

Minnesota PUC proposes to classify

each of the 45 individual exchanges

served by Frontier as separate service

areas. The Minnesota PUC contends

that, without a redefinition of Frontier’s

service area, the Minnesota PUC will be

unable to designate another carrier as an

eligible telecommunications carrier

(ETC) to serve any portion of Frontier’s

study area, even if such designation is

in the public interest. The Minnesota

PUC contends that it has taken into

account the recommendations of the

Federal-State Joint Board, as required by

the Communications Act of 1934, as

amended (the Act), and Commission

rules.

Commission Rules

For areas served by a rural telephone

company, section 214(e)(5) of the Act

provides that the company’s service area

will be its study area ‘‘unless and until

the Commission and the States, after

taking into account the

recommendations of a Federal-State

Joint Board instituted under section

410(c) of the Act, establish a different

definition of service area for such

company.’’ Section 54.207 of the

Commission’s rules and the Universal

Service Order, 62 FR 32862, June 17,

1997, set forth the procedures for

consideration of petitions filed by state

commissions seeking to designate

service areas for rural telephone

companies that are different from such

companies’ study areas. Specifically,

§ 54.207(c)(1) provides that such a

petition shall contain: (i) the definition

proposed by the state commission; and

(ii) the state commission’s ruling or

other official statement presenting the

state commission’s reason for adopting

its proposed definition, including an

analysis that takes into account the

recommendations of any Federal-State

Joint Board convened to provide

recommendations with respect to the

definition of a service area served by a

rural telephone company.

The Petition

On October 27, 1999, the Minnesota

PUC issued an order granting

preliminary approval to Minnesota

Cellular Corporation, now known as

Western Wireless Corporation (Western

Wireless), for designation as an ETC

under section 214(e) of the Act. In this

order, the Minnesota PUC found that it

was in the public interest to designate

Western Wireless as an ETC in service

areas served by rural telephone

companies. At that time, the Minnesota

PUC rejected the claim of Frontier that

it was a rural telephone company.

On February 10, 2000, the Minnesota

PUC issued an order on reconsideration

finding, among other things, that

Frontier was a rural telephone company

under the Act. As a rural telephone

company, section 214(e)(5) of the Act

defines Frontier’s service area as its

study area, until and unless the

Commission and the state establish a

different definition. Accordingly,

Frontier’s study area would include all

of Frontier’s 45 existing exchanges in

Minnesota. Pursuant to section 214(e)(1)

of the Commission’s rules, a carrier

designated as an ETC must offer and

advertise the services supported by the

federal universal service mechanism

throughout the entire service area.

Because Western Wireless is licensed to

serve only 29 of the 45 exchanges

comprising Frontier’s Minnesota study

area, the Minnesota PUC rescinded its

preliminary designation of Western

Wireless as an ETC in areas served by

Frontier.

On September 1, 2000, the Minnesota

PUC issued an order concluding that

Frontier’s service area should be

‘‘disaggregated on an exchange by

exchange basis as this would allow

CLECs [competitive local exchange

carriers] which are designated a federal

ETC to receive future federal high-cost

funds, if any, for those exchanges in

which they serve.’’ The Minnesota PUC

noted that Frontier’s study area is

comprised of 45 non-contiguous

exchanges located throughout

Minnesota and concluded that

Frontier’s service area should be

redefined into 45 separate service areas

based on those individual exchanges.

The Minnesota PUC reasoned that this

redefinition would promote competition

by allowing CLECs that are designated

ETCs to receive federal high-cost funds

to provide service in part or all of

Frontier’s current service area. The

Minnesota PUC therefore authorized a

petition to be filed with the Commission

requesting consent to its proposed

alternative service area definition for

Frontier’s Minnesota service territory.

Status

Section 54.207(c)(3) of the

Commission’s rules provides that the

Commission may initiate a proceeding

to consider a petition to redefine the

service area of a rural telephone

company within ninety days of the

release date of a Public Notice. If the

Commission initiates a proceeding to

consider the petition, the proposed

definition shall not take effect until both

the state commission and the

Commission agree upon the definition

of a rural service area, in accordance

with section 214(e)(5) of the Act. If the

Commission does not act on the petition

within 90 days of the release date of the

Public Notice, the definition proposed

by the state commission will be deemed

approved by the Commission and shall

take effect in accordance with state

procedures. Under § 54.207(e) of the

Commission’s rules, the Commission

delegates its authority under § 54.207(c)

to the Chief of the Common Carrier

Bureau.

Federal Communications Commission.

Katherine L. Schroder,

Chief, Accounting Policy Division.

[FR Doc. 00–31351 Filed 12–7–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

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. The application also will 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

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

noted, nonbanking activities will be

conducted throughout the United States.

Additional information on all bank

holding companies may be obtained

77030 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 237 / Friday, December 8, 2000 / Notices

from the National Information Center

website at www.ffiec.gov/nic/.

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 January 4,

2001.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

(W. Arthur Tribble, Vice President) 2200

North Pearl Street, Dallas, Texas 75201–

2272:

1. Bryan Family Management Trust,

Bryan, Texas, and Bryan Heritage

Limited Partnership, Bryan, Texas; to

acquire 51 percent of the voting shares

of The First National Bank of Bryan,

Bryan, Texas.

B. Federal Reserve Bank of San

Francisco (Maria Villanueva, Consumer

Regulation Group) 101 Market Street,

San Francisco, California 94105–1579:

1. Frontier Financial Corporation,

Everett, Washington; to merge with

Interbancorp, Inc., Duvall, Washington,

and thereby indirectly acquire Inter

Bank, Duvall, Washington.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, December 5, 2000.

Robert deV. Frierson

Associate Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 00–31323 Filed 12–7–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–S

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

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, including the

companies listed below, that engages

either directly or through a subsidiary or

other company, in a nonbanking activity

that is listed in § 225.28 of Regulation

Y (12 CFR 225.28) 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.

The notice also will 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. Additional information on all

bank holding companies may be

obtained from the National Information

Center website at www.ffiec.gov/nic/.

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 December 22, 2000.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of New

York (Betsy Buttrill White, Senior Vice

President) 33 Liberty Street, New York,

New York 10045–0001:

1. Bayerische Hypo– und Vereinsbank

AG, Munich, Germany; to acquire Bank

Austria Securities, Inc., New York, New

York; and thereby indirectly acquire

CAIB Securities (New York) Inc., New

York, New York; Creditanstalt

International Asset Management, Inc.,

New York, New York; Bank Austria

Creditanstalt Corporate Finance, Inc.,

Greenwich, Connecticut; Bank Austria

Commercial Paper, LLC, Greenwich,

Connecticut; Bank Austria Creditanstalt

Community Development, Inc.,

Greenwich, Connecticut; Bank Austria

Creditanstalt Holdings Corporation

(Railcar Leasing), Greenwich,

Connecticut; Bank Austria Creditanstalt

Equipment Leasing, Inc., Greenwich,

Connecticut; and Bank Austria

Creditanstalt Property Corporation

(Leasing), Greenwich, Connecticut, and

thereby engage in corporate finance and

commercial lending activities, pursuant

to § 225.28(b)(1) of Regulation Y;

investment advisory activities, pursuant

to § 225.28(b)(6) of Regulation Y;

securities brokerage, private placement

and riskless principal activities,

pursuant to § 225.28(b)(7) of Regulation

Y; community development activities,

pursuant to § 225.28(b)(12) of

Regulation Y; and in equipment leasing

activities, pursuant to § 225.28(b)(3) of

Regulation Y. These activities will be

conducted worldwide.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, December 4, 2000.

Robert deV. Frierson

Associate Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 00–31282 Filed 12–7–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–S

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve

System.

TIME AND DATE: 10 a.m., Wednesday,

December 13, 2000.

PLACE: Marriner S. Eccles Federal

Reserve Board Building, C Street

entrance between 20th and 21st Streets,

NW., Washington, DC 20551

STATUS: Open.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

Summary Agenda

Because of its routine nature, no

discussion of the following item is

anticipated. This matter will be voted

on without discussion unless a member

of the Board requests that the item be

moved to the discussion agenda.

1. Proposed amendments to

Regulation Y (Bank Holding Companies

and Change in Bank Control) to

authorize financial holding companies

to act as a ‘‘finder’’ by bringing buyers

and sellers together for transactions that

the parties themselves negotiate and

consummate (proposed earlier for

public comment; Docket No. R–1078).

Discussion Agenda

2. Publication for comment of

proposed amendments to Regulation Z

(Truth in Lending) related to potentially

abusive practices in home mortgage

lending. (Comments were solicited

earlier on possible revisions; Docket No.

R–1075.)

3. Consideration of a proposal for

comment to amend Regulation Y (Bank

Holding Companies and Change in Bank

Control) to (a) increase the amount of

nonfinancial data processing

permissible for bank and financial

holding companies and (b) allow

financial holding companies to own

companies engaged in certain data

processing activities in connection with

the provision of financial products and

services.

4. Publication for comment of

proposed amendments to Regulation Y

(Bank Holding Companies and Change

in Bank Control) that would permit

financial holding companies to provide

general real estate brokerage and real

estate management services.

5. Proposed 2001 Federal Reserve

Bank budgets.

6. Any items carried forward from a

previously announced meeting.

Note: This meeting will be recorded for the

benefit of those unable to attend.

Cassettes will then be available for

listening in the Board’s Freedom of

Information Office, and copies can be

ordered for $6 per cassette by calling

202–452–3684 or by writing to: Freedom

of Information Office, Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, Washington, DC 20551.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Lynn S. Fox, Assistant to the Board;

202–452–3204.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: You may

call 202–452–3206 for a recorded

announcement of this meeting; or you

may contact the Board’s Web site at