Commonwealth of Virginia Ex Rel. State Corporation Commission v. Farmers and Merchants National Bank, 515 F.2d 154, 4th Cir. (1975)
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Scribd Government DocsCommonwealth of Virginia Ex Rel. State Corporation Commission v. Farmers and Merchants National Bank, 515 F.2d 154, 4th Cir. (1975)
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Scribd Government Docs515 F.
2d 154
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA ex rel. STATE
CORPORATION
COMMISSION, Appellant,
v.
FARMERS AND MERCHANTS NATIONAL BANK,
Appellee.
No. 74-2156.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Argued April 11, 1975.
Decided May 5, 1975.
Anthony F. Troy, Deputy Atty. Gen. of Va. (Andrew P. Miller, Atty. Gen.
of Va., and William F. Schutt, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Richmond, Va., on
brief), for appellant.
Peter B. Work, Washington, D.C. (James F. Bell, Jones, Day, Reavis &
Pogue, Washington, D.C., on brief), for amicus curiae The Conference of
State Bank Supervisors.
Flournoy Largent, Jr., Winchester, Va. (Largent, Anderson & Larrick,
Winchester, Va., on brief), for appellee.
Before WINTER and WIDENER, Circuit Judges, and MERHIGE, *
District Judge.
PER CURIAM:
By the instant suit, the Commonwealth of Virginia sought to prevent Farmers
and Merchants National Bank from operating a drive-in banking facility
approximately 204 feet from the rear of the Front Royal branch banking office
located at Main and Crescent Streets in the town of Front Royal, Virginia. The
Drive-in facility was physically separated from the branch bank by at least one
public street and by other property not owned by the bank. Injunctive relief was
sought on the bround that the drive-in facility was a "branch" bank and
allegedly could not be established and maintained under applicable state law.
12 U.S.C. Sec. 36(c) and (f).
2
In a thorough and carefully considered decision, the district court concluded
that the question of whether a banking facility constitutes a "branch" is a
question of federal law (First National Bank in Plant City, Fla. v. Dickinson,
396 U.S. 122, 90 S.Ct. 337, 24 L.Ed.2d 312 (1969)); and, applying federal law,
it concluded further that the drive-in facility which was the subject of litigation
was not a "branch" but an extension of an existing banking office, the
maintenance of which was authorized under both state and federal law. We
think that the district court was correct in its conclusions for the reasons and the
authorities set forth in its opinion. The judgment of the district court is,
therefore,
Affirmed.
Honorable Robert R. Merhige, Jr., United States District Judge for the Eastern
District of Virginia, sitting by designation
