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 applications will also 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.

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 no later than November 27, 2015.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (Richard Walker, Community Affairs Officer) 600 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02210-2204:

1. ESB Bancorp MHC, Easthampton, Massachusetts; (“ESB MHC”) to merge with Hometown Community Bancorp MHC, Oxford, Massachusetts (“Hometown MHC”), with ESB MHC as the surviving entity to be known as “Hometown Financial Group, MHC”; and (ii) ESB Bancorp, Inc., Easthampton, Massachusetts (“ESB Bancorp”), to merge with Hometown Community Bancorp, Inc., Oxford, Massachusetts (“Hometown Bancorp”), with ESB Bancorp as the surviving entity to be known as “Hometown Financial Group, Inc.” Upon consummation of the merger, Easthampton Savings Bank and Hometown Bank will remain separate wholly-owned subsidiaries of Hometown Financial Group, Inc.