Formations of, Acquisitions by, and Mergers of Bank Holding Companies

The companies listed in this notice have applied to the Board for approval, pursuant to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) (BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR Part 225), and all other applicable statutes and regulations to become a bank holding company and/or to acquire the assets or the ownership of, control of, or the power to vote shares of a bank or bank holding company and all of the banks and nonbanking companies owned by the bank holding company, including the companies listed below.

The applications listed below, as well as other related filings required by the Board, are available for immediate inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank indicated. The application also will be available for inspection at the offices of the Board of Governors. Interested persons may express their views in writing on the standards enumerated in the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the proposal also involves the acquisition of a nonbanking company, the review also includes whether the acquisition of the nonbanking company complies with the standards in section 4 of the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise noted, nonbanking activities will be conducted throughout the United States. Additional information on all bank holding companies may be obtained from the National Information Center website at www.ffiec.gov/nic/.

Unless otherwise noted, comments regarding each of these applications must be received at the Reserve Bank indicated or the offices of the Board of Governors not later than June 1, 2000.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (Michael E. Collins, Senior Vice President) 100 North 6th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19105-1521:

1. Sterling Financial Corporation, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; to acquire 100 percent of the voting shares of and thereby merge with Hanover Bancorp, Inc., Hanover, Pennsylvania, and thereby indirectly acquire Bank of Hanover Trust Company, Hanover, Pennsylvania.

B. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (Phillip Jackson, Applications Officer) 230 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60690-1414:

1. Ledyard Bancorporation, Inc., Ledyard, Iowa; to become a bank holding company by acquiring 97.45 percent of the voting shares of State Bank of Ledyard, Ledyard, Iowa.

C. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (JoAnne F. Lewellen, Assistant Vice President) 90 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55480-0291:

1. NASB Shares, Inc., Belgrade, Minnesota; to become a bank holding company by acquiring 100 percent of the voting shares of North American State Bank, Belgrade, Minnesota.

In connection with this application, Applicant also has applied to acquire Borgerding Insurance Agency, Inc., Belgrade, Minnesota, and thereby engage in general insurance agency activities in a place with a population not exceeding 5,000 and where the bank holding company organization has a lending office, pursuant to § 225.28(b)(11)(iii) of Regulation Y.

D. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (D. Michael Manies, Assistant Vice President) 925 Grand Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64198-0001:

1. The State Bank of Hoxie ESOP, Hoxie, Kansas; to acquire up to 50 percent of the voting shares of Prairie State Bancshares, Inc., Hoxie, Kansas, and thereby indirectly acquire The State Bank, Hoxie, Kansas.