[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 130 (Friday, July 5, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 35216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17093]


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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 that engages either 
directly or through a subsidiary or other company, in a nonbanking 
activity that is listed in Sec.  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 July 19, 1996.
    A. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (Zane R. Kelley, Vice President) 
104 Marietta Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303:
    1. Gulf West Banks, Inc., St. Petersburg, Florida; to acquire 
Liberty Leasing Corporation, Tampa, Florida, and thereby engage in 
leasing activities, pursuant to Sec.  225.25(b)(5) of the Board's 
Regulation Y.
    B. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (Randall C. Sumner, Vice 
President) 411 Locust Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63166:
    1. Sharon Bancshares, Inc., Sharon, Tennessee, to engage de novo in 
offering a full range of portfolio investment advice and securities 
brokerage services to customers of its subsidiary banks, pursuant to Secs.  
225.25(b)(4) and (15) of the Board's Regulation Y.
    C. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (James M. Lyon, Vice 
President) 250 Marquette Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55480:
    1. Norwest Corporation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Norwest Financial 
Services, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa, and Norwest Financial, Inc., Des 
Moines, Iowa; to indirectly acquire Sunburst Financial Services, Inc., 
Jackson, Mississippi, dba Rapid Finance, Inc., through it subsidiaries, 
Norwest Financial Louisiana, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa, and Norwest 
Financial Mississippi, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa, and thereby indirectly 
engage in consumer finance activities and in the sale of credit life, 
credit accident and health, and property and credit-related casualty 
insurance pursuant to Secs.  225.25(b)(1) and (8)(vii) of the Board's 
Regulation Y.
    D. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (John E. Yorke, Senior Vice 
President) 925 Grand Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64198:
    1. Community Bancshares Employee Stock Ownership Plan, Neosho, 
Missouri, and Community Bancshares, Inc., Neosho, Missouri; to engage 
de novo through its subsidiary Community Mortgage Company, Neosho, 
Missouri, in mortgage lending activities pursuant to Sec.  225.25(b)(1) 
of the Board's Regulation Y.
    E. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (Genie D. Short, Vice President) 
2200 North Pearl Street, Dallas, Texas 75201-2272:
    1. Security Shares, Inc., Abilene, Texas; to acquire through its 
subsidiary First Independent Computers, Inc., a 50 percent interest in 
Vision Plus Card Services, L.L.C., Abilene, Texas, and thereby engage 
in data processing activities pursuant to Sec.  225.25(b)(7) of the 
Board's Regulation Y.
    F. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (Kenneth R. Binning, 
Director, Bank Holding Company) 101 Market Street, San Francisco, 
California 94105:
    1. Imperial Bancorp, Los Angeles, California; to engage de novo 
through its subsidiary Pacific Bancard Association, Inglewood, 
California (PBA), in the servicing of extensions of credit for credit 
cards, pursuant to Sec.  225.25(b)(1)(ii) of the Board's Regulation Y. 
PBA represents a 50 percent partner in American Heritage/Pacific 
Bancard Association, Chatsworth, California (American). American is a 
California general partnership engaged in the business of acquiring and 
servicing portfolios of merchant agreements for the processing of bank 
card transactions from financial institutions to be serviced by 
Imperial Bancorp's bank subsidiary, Imperial Bank, as a bank card 
merchant bank, in the ordinary course of Imperial Bank's business.
    2. Wells Fargo & Company, San Francisco, California; to expand the 
geographic scope of its subsidiary, Wells Fargo Ventures, Inc., San 
Francisco, California, which engages in data processing and data 
transmission services through the ownership, installation, operation, 
and maintenance of automatic teller machines in the states of Texas and 
Oregon, pursuant to Sec.  225.25(b)(7) of the Board's Regulation Y. 
Wells Fargo Ventures, Inc. proposes to operate nationwide.

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, June 28, 1996.
Jennifer J. Johnson,
Deputy Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 96-17093 Filed 7-3-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210-01-F