Federal Reserve Opens Comment Period on Two Bank Holding Company Applications
Comments on the Hometown Financial Group and Bank Forward applications must be filed by Oct. 19, 2026.
The Federal Reserve System published a notice in the Federal Register (Vol. 91, No. 180, page 59134) on September 18, 2026 announcing that the Board is reviewing applications for formations, acquisitions, and mergers of bank holding companies under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 and Regulation Y.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston lists an application by Hometown Financial Group, Inc., a newly-formed Maryland corporation. The applicant seeks to become a bank holding company by acquiring TruNorth Bank in Easthampton, Massachusetts, converting Hometown Financial Group MHC from a mutual to a stock form, merging the MHC with its subsidiary Hometown Financial Group, Inc., and acquiring Primary Bank in Bedford, New Hampshire.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis lists an application by the Bank Forward Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Trust, Fargo, North Dakota, to acquire additional voting shares, up to 45.15 percent, of Security State Bank Holding Company, thereby indirectly acquiring additional voting shares of Bank Forward, also in Fargo.
Public portions of the applications are available for inspection at the indicated Federal Reserve Banks and the Board's offices. Written comments must be received by October 19, 2026 at the Reserve Bank indicated or at the Board of Governors, Benjamin W. McDonough, Secretary of the Board, Washington, DC. Comments are subject to public disclosure.
The notice is signed by Michele Taylor Fennell, Associate Secretary of the Board, and references FR Doc No. 2026-19195 filed on September 17, 2026.
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