Farmers Bancorp seeks Fed approval to acquire Lawrence Bancshares

The Federal Reserve Board received an application from Farmers Bancorp Inc., Blytheville, Arkansas, to acquire Lawrence Bancshares, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire Lawrence Bank, both located in Nashville, Tennessee. The filing is made under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 and Regulation Y, and the Board's approval is required before the transaction can be consummated.

The notice, published in the Federal Register on Sep. 1, 2026 (Vol. 91, No. 168, pp. 56146-56147; FR Doc No. 2026-17873), states that the public portions of the application and any related filings are available for immediate inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and at the Board of Governors' offices. Interested parties may also request expedited access from the appropriate Reserve Bank or the Board's Freedom of Information Office.

Comments on the application must be submitted in writing to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, P.O. Box 442, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-2034, or to the Board's Secretary, Benjamin W. McDonough, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20551-0001, no later than Oct. 1, 2026. Electronic comments may be sent to the address provided in the notice. The notice clarifies that comments are generally public and will not be altered to remove identifying information, except for confidential material.

The notice lists Winchell S. Carroll, Jr., Assistant Vice President of the St. Louis Fed, as the contact for the Reserve Bank, and Michele Taylor Fennell, Associate Secretary of the Board, as the Board's point of contact. The Board will evaluate the application against the standards set forth in the BHC Act.