Kristy Merrill, President & CEO of the NH Bankers Association issued the following statement in response to SB 85 being signed into law by Governor Ayotte:

“This critical piece of legislation will strengthen our local economy and improve access to capital by increasing the lending limit of New Hampshire banks to those of our neighboring states. Despite being in a merger and acquisition environment, the Granite State has a history of start-up, or de novo, banks and continues to be a bright spot among the country. This legislation will boost this start-up momentum by aligning the de novo regulatory period with federal regulators, allowing new banks to focus on serving their customers. We thank Governor Ayotte for signing this bill into law and are grateful to Senator Pearl for his leadership.

Background:

SB 85 was sponsored by Senator Howard Pearl (R-Loudon) and increases the lending limit for New Hampshire chartered banks from 15% to 20% and allows for another 5% as long as it’s fully secured. This is consistent with neighboring states and states around the country.

The bill also reduces the de novo period from 5 years to 3 years to align with the FDIC, and grants the NH Banking Department Commissioner the authority to extend the de novo period another 2 years if needed for safety and soundness. SB 85 takes effect immediately upon passage.

View the legislation.