Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 3, 1996 / Notices 167

1 For purposes of this proposal, retail paper

financing may consist of either: (1) a retail

installment contract or similar instrument between

the purchaser and the dealer which is then assigned

to National City; or (2) a direct obligation between

the purchaser and National City originated on

National City’s behalf by the dealer.

2 Section 106 also prohibits a bank from varying

the consideration charged for any product or service

on the condition or requirement that a customer

‘‘obtain’’ some additional credit, property or service

from an ‘‘affiliate’’ of such bank. See 12 U.S.C. §

1972(1)(B).

3 S. Rep. No. 1084, 91st. Cong., 2d Sess., 16-17

(1970).

must be received not later than January

31, 1996.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

(Zane R. Kelley, Vice President) 104

Marietta Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia

30303:

1. J.G.D.B. y Cia. S. en C. (formerly

known as Jaime Gilinski y Cia. S. en C.),

PBZ Ltda. y Cia. S. en C., and J.G.D.B.

Limitada, all of Santa Fe de Bogota,

Colombia, and Bloice Enterprises Corp.,

Colonel County Inc., Caprice Maritime

Limited, Aileen International Co., Inc.,

Early Haven Investments Corp.,

Feldome Worldwide Corp., Foye

Investments Inc., Garbay Isle

Investments Inc., Jacklyn Finance Co.

Ltd., and Swain Finance Co. Inc., all of

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

(collectively, Companies), and Bancol y

Cia. S. en C. (Bancol), Santa Fe de

Bogota, Colombia, to become bank

holding companies and to retain,

indirectly, all the voting securities of

Eagle National Holding Company, and

thereby retain 99.2 percent of the voting

securities of Eagle National Bank of

Miami, N.A., both of Miami, Florida.

Companies, in the aggregate, own,

directly or indirectly, all the voting

securities of Bancol, which controls the

power to vote 74.9 percent of the voting

securities of Banco de Colombia, S.A.,

Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia. In

addition, Banco de Colombia, S.A.,

which indirctly owns all the voting

securities of Eagle National Holding

Company, Inc., proposes to acquire and

directly own such shares.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, December 27, 1995.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 96-00005 Filed 1-2-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210-01-F

Middlefork Financial Group, Inc., et al.;

Change in Bank Control Notices;

Acquisitions of Shares of Banks or

Bank Holding Companies; Correction

This notice corrects a notice (FR Doc.

95-30722) published on page 65327 of

the issue for Tuesday, December 19,

1995.

Under the Federal Reserve Bank of

Kansas heading, the entry for First Bank

Holding Company of Colorado,

Lakewood, Colorado, is revised to read

as follows:

1. FirstBank Holding Company of

Colorado Employee Stock Ownership

Plan, Lakewood, Colorado, and its

subsidiary, FirstBank Holding Company

of Colorado, Lakewood, Colorado; to

acquire 100 percent of the voting shares

of The Bank of Douglas County, Castle

Rock, Colorado.

Comments on this application must

be received by January 11, 1996.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, December 27, 1995.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 96-00007 Filed 1-2-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210-01-F

National City Corporation; Request for

an Exemption From Tying Provisions

National City Corporation, Akron,

Ohio (National City), has requested,

pursuant to section 106(b) of the Bank

Holding Company Act Amendments of

1970 (12 U.S.C. § 1971 et seq.) (section

106), that the Board grant an exemption

to permit the subsidiary banks of

National City to vary the consideration

charged for a floorplan loan to an

automobile dealership based on the

dollar amount of retail paper financing

originated by the dealership on behalf of

National City. A ‘‘floorplan loan’’ is a

loan or line of credit provided to an

automobile dealership to finance the

acquisition of the dealer’s inventory for

sale to the general public, and ‘‘retail

paper financing’’ means financing

provided to consumers seeking to

purchase an automobile from the

dealer’s inventory.1 National City

indicates that floorplan loans and retail

paper financing will remain separately

available to customers at market prices.

This request is similar to a request

submitted by Huntington Bancshares,

Incorporated. See 60 Federal Register

57,429 (November 15, 1995).

Section 106 generally prohibits a bank

from varying the consideration charged

for any product or service, including an

extension of credit, on the condition or

requirement that: (1) a customer obtain

some additional credit, property, or

service from such bank, other than a

loan, discount, deposit, or trust service

(so called, ‘‘traditional bank products’’)

(See 12 U.S.C. § 1972(1)(A));2 or (2) a

customer provide some additional

credit, property, or service to such bank,

other than those related to and usually

provided in connection with a loan,

discount, deposit, or trust service. (See

12 U.S.C. § 1972(1)(C)). The Board may,

by regulation or order, grant exceptions

that are not contrary to the purposes of

the section.

National City argues that the proposed

tying arrangement should be

permissible under the statutory

exceptions discussed above as well as

exceptions contained in the Board’s

anti-tying rules. 12 CFR 225.7. However,

National City is seeking an exemption

from section 106 to clarify whether

retail paper financing may be

characterized as either a traditional

bank product so that the proposal is

consistent with the exception contained

in 12 U.S.C. § 1972(1)(A), or as a

practice related to and usually provided

in connection with a floorplan loan so

that the proposal is consistent with the

exception contained in 12 U.S.C. §

1972(1)(C).

Even if the proposal does not fall

within the literal terms of exceptions to

the prohibitions contained in section

106, National City believes that the

proposed package arrangement is not

anticompetitive and is generally offered

by its nonbank competitors who are not

subject to section 106. National City also

argues that the market for floorplan

loans and retail financing services is

national in scope and highly

competitive, and that National City does

not possesses sufficient market power in

any relevant market to impair

competition in that market.

Furthermore, National City believes that

the proposal is consistent with

Congressional intent that section 106

not interfere with a customer’s ability to

negotiate the price of multiple banking

services with a bank on the basis of the

customer’s entire relationship with the

bank.3 Finally, National City asserts that

the proposal will promote competition

because automobile dealerships may

obtain floorplan lending and retail

paper financing from other financial

institutions, and there is no requirement

that consumers finance their vehicle

purchase through this arrangement.

Notice of National City’s request is

published in order to seek the views of

interested persons on the issues

presented by the request and does not

represent a determination by the Board

that the request meets or is likely to

meet the standards of Section 106. The

request may be inspected at the offices

of the Board of Governors or at the

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Any comments or requests for hearing

should be submitted in writing and

received by William W. Wiles, Secretary

of the Board of Governors of the Federal