Hearings set for deals involving Canadian acquirers

The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will hold public hearings on BMO Financial’s planned acquisition of Bank of the West and TD Bank’s proposed purchase of First Horizon.

The hearing for the $16 billion merger of BMO and Bank of the West is set for July 14, while the hearing for the $13.4 billion combination of TD Bank and First Horizon will take place on Aug. 18. Both meetings will be virtual. 

The hearings are starting a trend. 

The Fed and OCC have already held a hearing tied to U.S. Bancorp’s pending acquisition of MUFG Union Bank. U.S. Bancorp later announced a $100 billion community development plan. 

The last time regulators held a hearing for a pending bank merger was in 2019 prior to BB&T’s acquisition of SunTrust Banks. 

The Fed and the OCC also extended the public comment deadline for BMO-Bank of the West and TD Bank-First Horizon. Interested parties now have until July 19 to weigh in on Bank of Montreal’s acquisition and until Aug. 23 to comment on TD Bank’s purchase. 

Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu said earlier this month that the OCC would consider having more hearings for big bank deals, given the “value that public input can provide on mergers.” 

BMO agreed to buy Bank of the West in December, while TD Bank struck a deal for First Horizon in February.