(a) General. A person or entity required or authorized to file public notice, including a person or entity requesting authorization for a merger, purchase of assets, a conversion, an applicant for a foreign bank agency, or another application requiring public notice, shall publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in its specified community or in an alternative form of publication acceptable to the banking commissioner and in such other locations as may be required by the banking commissioner.     
      (b) Contents. The public notice must state that a filing is being made; the date (or expected date) of the filing; sufficient information describing the proposed transaction, and other related information required by the Finance Code, Title 3, Subtitle A or G, this chapter, or another rule adopted pursuant to the Finance Code. The notice must also contain any other information as may be required by the banking commissioner. In addition, the notice must include substantially the following text as a separately stated paragraph: "Any person wishing to comment on this application, either for or against, may file written comments with the Texas Department of Banking, 2601 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78705-4294 on or before the 14th day after the date of this publication. Such comments will be made a part of the record before and considered by the banking commissioner. Any person wishing to formally protest and oppose (describe type of application in general terms) and participate in the application process may do so by filing a written notice of protest with the Texas Department of Banking on or before the 14th calendar day after the date of this publication accompanied by a protest filing fee of $2,500. The protest fee may be reduced or waived by the banking commissioner upon a showing of substantial hardship."     
      (c) Publisher's affidavit. A person or entity required to file public notice under this section shall file with the banking commissioner a copy of the notice and a publisher's affidavit attesting to the date of publication.     
      (d) One Publication Sufficient. Unless otherwise required by the Finance Code or rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the Finance Code, one public notice publication per submitted or accepted filing in each community specified by the banking commissioner is sufficient if in substantial compliance with this section and chapter and with the Finance Code, as determined by the banking commissioner. The banking commissioner reserves the right to require additional publication based on a determination that a particular publication is insufficient or is otherwise not in compliance.     
     Source Note:        The provisions of this §15.5 adopted to be effective January 5, 1996, 20 TexReg 10999; amended to be effective March 21, 1997, 22 TexReg 2608; amended to be effective November 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 9825; amended to be effective November 8, 2012, 37 TexReg 8779; amended to be effective March 12, 2024, 49 TexReg 1457