Merchants & Planters Bank of Newport, Arkansas, appeals from a district court1 judgment which upheld the action of the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States in granting authority to the Jackson County National Bank2 to operate a branch banking facility in the town of Diaz, Arkansas.
Diaz is a small community situated adjacent to Newport in the growth area of Jackson County, Arkansas. Jackson County National Bank was located in Tuckerman, Arkansas, some, eight miles distant. Early in 1973 that bank filed an application with the Comptroller asking permission to relocate its main banking house from Tuckerman to Diaz and to retain its old banking office as a branch bank. The application was opposed by the two existing banks in Newport, Merchants & Planters and the First National Bank of Newport. A hearing was held before the Regional Administrator of National Banks in Memphis, Tennessee, at which the Newport banks appeared as protestants. Additionally, an internal investigation was undertaken by the National Bank Examiner, the re-suit of which was a recommendation against approval.
The original application was not granted. However, while it was pending before the Comptroller, Jackson County National Bank submitted an alternative application requesting that it be allowed to establish a branch bank in Diaz. This alternative was considered and approved by the Comptroller with no further proceedings having been had. After exhausting administrative remedies the protestant banks brought this action in district court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief from the Comptroller’s decision.3
The Comptroller and Jackson County National Bank, which was an intervenordefendant, moved for summary judgment; and the motions were granted dismissing the complaint. In its memorandum opinion the district court found that the Newport banks’ procedural complaints regarding the lack of a hearing on the alternative application were without merit and that the action of the Comptroller in granting the alternative application was neither arbitrary, capricious nor an abuse of discretion. Merchants & Planters Bank v. Smith, 380 F.Supp. 354, 361, 364 (E.D.Ark.1974).
After reviewing the record we are satisfied that the district court has stated the facts accurately and has properly applied the relevant law to those facts. We, therefore, affirm the judgment based on the thorough and well reasoned opinion of the trial court.