COMMERCE DEPARTMENT: BANKING DIVISION:

These files include bank charter application forms with accompanying correspondence, legal documents, maps, notice of hearing, and hearing transcripts for financial institutions (predominantly state banks) chartered by the state of Minnesota. Some files contain economic feasibility studies, petitions, biographical sketches of the applicants, a finding of fact and conclusion document, and briefs and exhibits from both applicants and objectors. Most records pertain to the establishment of a new bank or new branch location. Some applications are for a change in location of the bank facility, change in name, increases in stock, or sale of securities.

During the period when these records were created, it was routine that a hearing was held for each application. Anyone, including competing banks, distrustful citizens, community leaders, and others could testify for or against the charter application. These hearing transcripts form the bulk of the records. The files encompass the era of the Great Depression when many banks were closed and reorganized.

Although Minnesota Statutes c289 calls for a hearing to be scheduled for each applicant, section 17 allows for the hearing to be waived. The section reads "the commissioner of commerce may, at his discretion, dispense with the notice and hearing provided for by section 45.04 if application is made for the incorporation of a new bank to take over the assets of one or more existing banks, or if the application contemplates the reorganization of a national bank into a state bank in the same locality." After 1983, a hearing was no longer routinely scheduled for each application. The language of the law changed very little under the reorganization of the Commerce Division [Laws 1983 c289], addressing primarily only the change in responsible agent from department to commissioner. Thus the change in practice from routine hearings to incidental hearings is not embedded in the Minnesota Statutes or Laws. The Code of Federal Regulations holds that any bank application made for membership in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) may be subject to a hearing after public announcement of the application has been made. If no requests for a hearing are received within 30 days, a hearing is not required (12CFR262). Though not explicitly stated, this may be the reason for the cessation of hearings at the state level, since very few banks choose not to participate in the FDIC.

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The files are arranged alphabetically by the name of the town, there under by the name of the bank making the application. There is also a register of bank applications (1919-1944).

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited volume and page or item and folder title here]. Minnesota. Banking Division. Bank establishment application records. Minnesota Historical Society. State Archives.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number(s): 2000-1; 2020-14

Processing Information:

Processed by: Lynn Leitte, April 2001.

Catalog ID No.: 900322528

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Banks and banking -- Minnesota -- State supervision.

Consumer protection -- Minnesota.

Credit unions -- Law and legislation.

Depressions -- 1929.

Financial institutions -- Minnesota.

Savings and loan associations -- Minnesota.

Trust companies -- Minnesota.

Places:

Minnesota -- Commerce.

Organizations:

Minnesota. Division of Financial Examinations.

Minnesota. Department of Public Examiner.

Minnesota. Department of Banking.

Minnesota. Department of Commerce.

Types of Documents:

Briefs (legal documents).

Petitions.

Transcripts.

Maps.

Photographs.

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