(a) General. A person or entity required or authorized to file public notice in connection with a trust company notice or application, including a person or entity requesting authorization for a merger, purchase of assets, or another application requiring public notice, shall publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in its specified community 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 Trust Company Act, this chapter or rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the Trust Company Act, and 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 Trust Company Act or rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the Trust Company Act, 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 Trust Company Act, 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.
(e) Other acceptable public notice. The banking commissioner may determine that public notice required by another regulatory agency of a trust company satisfies the public notice requirements of this section. For example, if a trust company converts, merges, or organizes into a financial institution that is no longer regulated by the banking commissioner and the banking commissioner determines that public notice requirements imposed by the successor regulatory authority satisfy the notice requirements of the Trust Company Act and this section, the banking commissioner may permit the notice required by the successor regulatory authority to serve as notice under this section.

Source Note: The provisions of this §21.5 adopted to be effective May 14, 1998, 23 TexReg 4565; amended to be effective September 5, 2002, 27 TexReg 8203