November 30, 2009 (FinancialWire) — First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FNFG), the thrift holding company for First Niagara Bank, has applied to the Federal Reserve Board to become a bank holding company.

First Niagara, currently a thrift holding company regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision, is only permitted to own and hold thrift institutions. According to the company, bank holding company status will enhance First Niagara’s ability to continue expanding through acquisitions of both thrifts and commercial banks and will give the company more flexibility in how it completes and executes transactions. Once the conversion process is complete, First Niagara Financial Group will operate under the oversight of the Federal Reserve Board.

In July 2009, First Niagara announced its plans to acquire Harleysville National and its $5.2 billion in assets and 83 branches in the Philadelphia area, subject to regulatory and Harleysville shareholder approval.

As a result of the bank holding company application, First Niagara Financial Group has withdrawn its application for approval of the Harleysville National Corp. transaction from the OTS and is instead seeking approval from the Federal Reserve Board to complete the transaction. First Niagara continues to expect to close the Harleysville transaction in the first quarter of 2010.

Converting to a bank holding company would have no impact on First Niagara employees’ day- to-day responsibilities or interactions with customers.

Buffalo-based First Niagara Financial, through its wholly owned subsidiary First Niagara Bank, operates through 171 branches and five Regional Market Centers across Upstate New York and Western Pennsylvania.

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