Bank of America may breach deposit cap with LaSalle
NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N) said its proposed purchase of Chicago's LaSalle Bank Corp. might push it above a federal ceiling on deposits, which could force the U.S. bank to sell assets.
Rising above that cap might force the bank to sell assets. But Bank of America said in a filing that it did not expect the combined bank to be above the ceiling when the $21 billion acquisition closes, or when Federal regulators consider the acquisition application. Those are the appropriate times to consider whether the bank is above the ceiling, Bank of America said.
In a filing on Monday with the U.S. Federal Reserve, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America said the acquisition would leave it with about 10.075 percent of deposits nationwide, exceeding the cap by $5.1 billion, based on Dec. 31 data.
"We're confident that we will meet the federal requirements," bank spokesman Scott Silvestri said.
A federal limit bars a bank from making an acquisition that would give it more than 10 percent of deposits, although a bank may grow past that limit without acquisitions.
Bank of America faced similar concerns in 2003 when it agreed to buy FleetBoston Financial Corp., but remained under the cap.
The bank announced its purchase of LaSalle on April 23, when LaSalle's parent ABN AMRO Holding NV AAH.AS backed a takeover bid from Britain's Barclays Plc(BARC.L).
ABN is also weighing a higher, unsolicited takeover bid from Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS.L), Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano (SAN.MC) and Dutch-Belgian group Fortis FOR.BR.
Adding LaSalle would let Bank of America fill holes in its 5,737-branch network, adding some 411 branches, 1.4 million retail and 17,000 commercial customers and $113 billion of assets. Most LaSalle branches are in Illinois and Michigan.
(Additional reporting by Dan Wilchins)
((Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Andre Grenon; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net +1 646 223 6317)) Keywords: BANKOFAMERICA DEPOSITS/
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