NEW YORK—The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Thursday approved the application by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A., Bilbao, Spain (“BBVA”), to acquire Compass Bancshares, Inc., Birmingham, Alabama (“Compass”), and thereby indirectly acquire Compass Bank, Birmingham, Alabama, and Central Bank of the South, Anniston, Alabama, pursuant to Section 3(a)(3) of the Bank Holding Company Act, as amended (“BHC Act”).
In addition, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York approved the application by Circle Merger Corp., Birmingham, Alabama, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Compass Bancshares, Inc., to become a bank holding company by acquiring Compass, pursuant to Section 3(a)(1) of the BHC Act. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York also approved the application by Blue Transaction Corp., The Woodlands, Texas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BBVA, to become a bank holding company by acquiring Circle Merger Corp. and thereby indirectly acquiring Compass.
According to standard procedure, the proposal cannot be completed sooner than 15 days.
The Reserve Bank acted under authority delegated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
