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DAVID M . SI L K
HE RB ER T M . W AC HT EL L
RO BIN P AN OVKA
DAVID A. KATZ
PETER C . H EIN
IL ENE KN AB L E GO TT S
HAR OLD S. N O VI KO FF
JE FFRE Y M. WIN TN E R
THE ODO R E N . MI R VI S
TR E VO R S. NO RWI TZ
EDW AR D D . H E R LIHY
BEN M . GE R M AN A
DANI E L A. NE FF
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PAU L K. ROW E
ST E VE N A. C OH EN
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DEB OR AH L. P AU L
DAVID G RU EN ST EIN
DAVID C. KARP
ST E VE N A. R OSEN B LU M
JOHN F. SAVAR E SE
JO SHU A R. C AM M AKE R
SCO TT K. CH AR LE S
M AR K G O RDON
JO SE PH D . L AR SO N
AD AM O. E M ME RIC H
L AW RE NCE S. M AKOW
GEORGE T. C ONW AY II I
JE ANN E M AR IE O B RI EN
R ALPH M . L E VE NE
WAYNE M. C AR LI N
ST EPH EN R. DiP RI M A
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JO SHU A A. FE L TM AN
JON ATH AN M . MO SE S
ELAINE P . G O LIN
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W/2645618v3
The March 19 E-mail states that the closure of more than 100 branches, including a
number 2 in the Cleveland, Akron and Canton areas of Ohio, would cause harm. Huntington
believes that the FirstMerit Bank and Huntington Bank customers in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will be well served by the resulting branch network following the
consummation of the Proposed Transaction. As discussed below, the majority of the branch
actions are short-distance consolidations and the substantial majority of the branch closures
involve modest distances to the recipient branches. The Proposed Transaction will result in
public benefits that outweigh any limited inconvenience that might result from the planned
branch actions.
A. The strong majority of the consolidations/closures are short-distance
consolidations.
As discussed in the Application, due to some overlap in the legacy branch networks of
Huntington Bank and FirstMerit Bank and in order to reduce redundancy and make the delivery
of customer services more efficient, Huntington Bank expects to consolidate or close 107
licensed locations, including: (a) 105 branches (75 legacy FirstMerit Bank branches and 30
legacy Huntington Bank branches), (b) one legacy FirstMerit Bank limited-service drive-up
location and (c) one legacy FirstMerit Bank limited-service facility that services Wealth and
Commercial clients.
Of the 107 consolidations/closings, a strong majority (62 of 107 or 58%) are shortdistance branch consolidations under the OCCs rules. 3 Under the applicable interagency
1
Huntington disclosed the branches of Huntington Bank or FirstMerit Bank that are planned to be consolidated or
closed after consummation of the Proposed Transaction in Exhibits 1719 of the Application, as well as in the
application that Huntington Bank filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) for prior
approval to merge with FirstMerit Bank, pursuant to the Bank Merger Act and the National Bank Act (the Bank
Merger Application), and in the published newspaper notice of the Bank Merger Application, copies of which have
been submitted to the Board.
2
The March 19 E-Mail refers to nearly 50 branch closings in Cleveland, Akron and Canton. As discussed below,
Huntington Bank expects to consolidate 32 branches and to close 11 branches in these areas combined.
3
According to the OCCs regulations, a short-distance consolidation occurs when the receiving branch is within the
following distances to the consolidating branch: (1) one thousand foot-radius of the site if the consolidating branch
is located within a central city of an Metropolitan Statistical Area (an MSA); (2) one-mile radius of the site if the
consolidating branch is not located within a central city, but is located within an MSA; or (3) two-mile radius of the
site if the consolidating branch is not located within an MSA. 12 CFR 5.3(l).
4
Interagency Policy Statement Concerning Branch Closing Notices and Policies, June 18, 1999.
Ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulatory guidance for branch
openings, closings, relocations and consolidations.
Ensure that all branch changes are approved by Huntington Banks Board of
Directors or a committee or member of management as delegated by the Board.
Ensure that the necessary regulatory and client notices, applications and legal notices
are completed to comply with the regulations governing branching.
Escalate, as necessary, risk and compliance issues to the Chief Risk Officer and Legal
Regulatory Compliance Committee.
Huntington Bank will provide prior notices of any branch closures to the applicable
regulators and the customers in accordance with the applicable law, regulations and regulatory
guidance. Customers of branches to be consolidated also will receive prior notices of the
planned consolidation into other branches.
D. Detailed rationales and distance information are provided in the
Applications for each proposed branch consolidation or closure.
In most cases, the customer accounts of branches to be closed will be transferred to the
next nearest branch, either a legacy FirstMerit Bank branch or an existing Huntington Bank
branch. Accounts of customers of a branch to be consolidated will be transferred to the branch
designated as the surviving branch of the two consolidating branches. Exhibit 19 of the
Application (and a similar exhibit in the Bank Merger Act Application to OCC) contains detailed
Distance Between
the Branches
0.87 mile
0.72 mile
0.08 mile
0.07 mile
Distance Between
the Branches
0.17 mile
0.09 mile
0.27 mile
0.16 mile
0.09 mile
0.28 mile
Distance Between
the Branches
0.21 mile
0.22 mile
0.36 mile
Explanations:
Legacy Huntington Bank branch at 130 N. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw, Michigan The
closing branch is located in the urban downtown of Saginaw, Michigan, where customers
primarily travel by car or on foot. Huntington Bank will serve this community through the
FirstMerit Bank receiving branch at 101 N. Washington Avenue, Saginaw, Michigan. The
receiving branch is less than 600 yards away, which is a five-minute walk or less than a oneminute drive. The receiving branch is a much more prominent location in a large office tower
located in the heart of the downtown. The closing branch is located four blocks east in the
middle of parking lots. Although the receiving branch has no drive-thru lanes versus two at the
closing branch, there is a FirstMerit Bank branch with five drive-thru lanes less than one mile
away on one of the main routes into downtown. The legacy FirstMerit Bank customers will not
Distance Between
the Branches
0.27 mile
0.16 mile
0.09 mile
0.72 mile
0.14 mile
Distance Between
the Branches
0.21 mile
Explanation:
Legacy Huntington Bank branch at 130 N. Jefferson Ave., Saginaw, Michigan This
branch is located in an LMI census tract. Please see above for the detailed reasons it was
consolidated into a nearby branch.
E. Public benefits far outweigh the costs.
Any limited inconvenience caused by the consolidations and closings in connection with
the Proposed Transaction should be weighed against the significant benefits that the Proposed
Transaction will bring to the customers of FirstMerit Bank and Huntington Bank and to the
communities they serve. For example, both the legacy customers of FirstMerit Bank and
Huntington Banks customers will benefit from the combined banks more extensive network of
branches and ATMs. The legacy customers of FirstMerit Bank will also benefit from the
extended branch hours of Huntington Bank branches on Saturdays, and such customers in Ohio
and Michigan will enjoy the added convenience of Huntington Bank branches co-located in local
major grocery stores, which are open seven days a week (including most holidays) and for longer
hours than traditional branches.
The customers of FirstMerit and FirstMerit Bank also will benefit from Huntington
Banks award-winning customer service and innovative products in its Fair Play banking
strategy, including its checking accounts with no minimum-balance requirement, no monthly
service fee and no-fee debit card use, as well as its 24-Hour Grace feature on that product and
all other consumer checking accounts. This feature allows customers with an overdraft balance
to make a deposit the next business day to clear the overdraft and avoid a fee. Huntington Bank
also is one of the only banks in the country to credit same-day deposits made up to midnight,
E.g., CIT Group, Inc., FRB Order No. 2015-20 (July 19, 2015); First Union Corporation, 83 Federal Reserve
Bulletin 1012 (1997).
Hispanics/Latinos represent only 1.5% of the population in the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area.
In addition, 0.63% had a denial reason of other. The HMDA reporting rules indicate that the denial reason
should be reported as other if the denial is for a reason other than: DTI ratio; employment history; credit history;
collateral; insufficient cash availability; unverifiable information; incomplete credit application; or mortgage
insurance denied.
A $5.1 million LIHTC investment to create 126 affordable family housing units in
Cleveland.
A $4.8 million loan to a LIHTC project to construct affordable single family homes in
Akron.
A $4.3 million LIHTC investment to create 60 affordable units of housing for special
needs and homeless populations in Akron.
As recognized in the 2012 Evaluation and discussed in the Application, Huntington Bank
also has engaged in a high level of community development services throughout its assessment
areas. Huntington Banks management and employees have volunteered their financial, business
and technical expertise by serving on the boards of directors and committees and volunteering
their time to various non-profit community organizations, including those that focus on
providing affordable housing and other services. As part of these community development
service efforts, Huntington Bank management and employees have addressed financial literacy
needs through credit counseling, first-time home buyer seminars, foreclosure prevention
workshops and other financial education programs targeted to LMI individuals throughout its
assessment areas. Since the 2012 Evaluation, Huntington Banks employees have volunteered
42,179 community development service hours throughout its footprint, including 4,895 hours in
Cleveland and 1,325 hours in Akron.
Huntington Banks wide ranging activities demonstrate its commitment to providing
access to affordable housing to underserved residents and communities, including minority
individuals and communities, directly and in partnership with governmental organizations, nonprofit community organizations and other participants.
III. Comment Period Extension Request
The March 19 E-mail requested an extension of the comment period. On March 10,
2016, Huntington Bank and FirstMerit Bank published notices of the Application in (a) The
Columbus Dispatch, a newspaper of general circulation in Columbus, Ohio, the city in which
Huntingtons headquarters and Huntington Banks main office are located, and (b) the Akron
Beacon Journal, a newspaper of general circulation in Akron, Ohio, the city in which
FirstMerits headquarters and FirstMerit Banks main office are located. Huntington published
such notices in accordance with the requirements of the Boards regulations. 9 Those notices
invited comments on the Application, which was submitted to the Board on the same day, and
noted that the due date for such comments was April 9, 2016. In addition, the Board published
notice of the Application in the Federal Register on March 17, 2016, inviting the public to
comment on the Application through April 15, 2016. Therefore, the comment period on the
12 CFR 225.16(b).
10
12 CFR 262.25(b)(2).
11
12
12 CFR 225.16(e); 12 CFR 262.3(i)(2); see, e.g., CIT Group, Inc., FRB Order No. 2015-20 (July 19, 2015).
Patricia A. Robinson
Attachments
cc (via e-mail):
Matthew Lee, Inner City Press/Fair Finance Watch
Travis Wilbert, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Carolina M. Ledesma, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Richard A. Cheap, Huntington Bancshares Incorporated and
The Huntington National Bank
Helga S. Houston, Huntington Bancshares Incorporated and
The Huntington National Bank
Staci Glenn Short, Huntington Bancshares Incorporated and
The Huntington National Bank
Nicholas G. Demmo, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Richard K. Kim, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Mark F. Veblen, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Jeffrey A. Watiker, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Appendix
#1
ConsolidatingBranch:TheFirstMeritBankbranchlocatedat21NBeaconBlvd,GrandHaven,Michigan49417
ReceivingBranch:TheHuntingtonBankbranchlocatedat1300SouthBeaconBlvd,GrandHaven,Michigan49417
#2
ConsolidatingBranch:TheFirstMeritbankbranchlocatedat430NorthfieldRd,Bedford,Ohio44146
ReceivingBranch:TheHuntingtonbankbranchlocatedat5321WarrensvilleRd,MapleHeights,Ohio44137
#3
ConsolidatingBranch:TheFirstMeritbankbranchlocatedat11427EuclidAvenue,Cleveland,Ohio44114
ReceivingBranch:TheHuntingtonbankbranchlocatedat11457MayfieldRoad,Cleveland,Ohio44106
Afterthisphotowastaken,anew
buildingcontainingthe
consolidatingbranchwasbuilt
#4
ConsolidatingBranch:TheFirstMeritbankbranchlocatedat6939EBroadSt,Columbus,Ohio43213
ReceivingBranch:TheHuntingtonbankbranchlocatedat6867EastBroadStreet,Columbus,Ohio43213
#5
ConsolidatingBranch:TheHuntingtonbankbranchlocatedat1500EastMainSt,Kent,Ohio
44240ReceivingBranch:TheFirstMeritbankbranchlocatedat1729StateRt59,Kent,Ohio44240
#6
ConsolidatingBranch:TheHuntingtonbankbranchlocatedat6550NRidgeRd,Madison,Ohio44057
ReceivingBranch:TheFirstMeritbankbranchlocatedat6565NRidgeRd,Madison,Ohio44057
#7
ConsolidatingBranch:TheHuntingtonbankbranchlocatedat58SParkPlace,Painesville,Ohio
44077ReceivingBranch:TheFirstMeritbankbranchlocatedat56LibertySt,Painesville,Ohio44077
#8
ConsolidatingBranch:TheFirstMeritbankbranchlocatedat3505LeeRd,ShakerHeights,Ohio44120
ReceivingBranch:TheHuntingtonbankbranchlocatedat17121ChagrinBlvd,ShakerHeights,Ohio44120
#9
ConsolidatingBranch:TheFirstMeritbankbranchlocatedat411AdamsSt,Toledo,Ohio43604
ReceivingBranch:TheHuntingtonbankbranchlocatedat519MadisonAve,Toledo,Ohio43604
#10
ConsolidatingBranch:TheHuntingtonBankbranchlocatedat101EWashingtonSt,NewCastle,Pennsylvania
16101ReceivingBranch:TheFirstMeritBankbranchlocatedat11SMillSt,NewCastle,Pennsylvania16101
#11-A
ClosingBranch:TheHuntingtonBankbranchlocatedat130NJeffersonAve.,Saginaw,Michigan48607
ReceivingBranch:TheFirstMeritBankbranchlocatedat101NWashingtonAvenue,Saginaw,Michigan48607
#11-B
ClosingBranch:TheHuntingtonBankbranchlocatedat130NJeffersonAve.,Saginaw,Michigan48607
ReceivingBranch:TheFirstMeritBankbranchlocatedat101NWashingtonAvenue,Saginaw,Michigan48607
#12
ClosingBranch:TheFirstMeritBankbranchlocatedat39E.MarketSt,Akron,Ohio44308
ReceivingBranch:TheHuntingtonBankbranchlocatedat106SMainSt,Akron,Ohio44308
#13
ClosingBranch:TheFirstMeritbankbranchlocatedat111WRichSt,Columbus,Ohio43215
ReceivingBranch:TheHuntingtonbankbranchlocatedat17SHighStreet,Columbus,Ohio43215
#14
ConsolidatingBranch:TheFirstMeritbankbranchlocatedat25WestProspectAvenue,Cleveland,Ohio44115
ReceivingBranch:TheHuntingtonbankbranchlocatedat200PublicSquare,Cleveland,Ohio44114