First Republic Bank/Merrill Lynch: Decision Due Date Moved Forward

The OTS has again moved its decision due date for the First Republic Bank (FRC) - Merrill Lynch (MER) merger forward almost three weeks to October 8, 2007.

This development indicates that the companies did in fact respond to the latest round of OTS comments within the last two weeks. This marks the end of the third comment/response cycle in this case, which is somewhat unusual in OTS merger reviews over the last few years.

Assuming this is the final comment/response phase, the OTS decision will most likely be issued by mid-September. However, there obviously exists a possibility that the OTS will again request further information from the companies which would in all likelihood push the review into October.

Again, the current expectation is for OTS approval during September. If this does occur, the companies should be able to complete the deal before the end of the third quarter of this year.

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