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En banc (French: "on [a] bench") is a legal term used to refer a case heard or to be heard before all judges of a court – in other words, before the entire bench – rather than by a panel selected from them.^[1][2] The equivalent terms in banc, in banco or in bank are also sometimes seen.

En banc is often used for unusually complex cases or cases considered to be of greater importance.^[2] Appellate courts in the United States sometimes grant rehearing en banc to reconsider a decision of a panel of the court (generally consisting of only three judges) where the case concerns a matter of exceptional public importance or the panel's decision appears to conflict with a prior decision of the court.^[3] In rarer instances, an appellate court will order hearing en banc as an initial matter, instead of the panel hearing it first.

Some appellate courts, such as the Supreme Court of the United States and the highest courts of most U.S. states, do not sit in panels, but hear all of their cases en banc (with the exception of cases where a judge is ill or recused).

United States Courts of Appeals[link]

Cases in United States Courts of Appeals are heard by a three-judge panel. A majority of the active circuit judges may decide to hear or rehear a case en banc. Parties may suggest an en banc hearing to the judges, but have no right to it. Federal law states en banc proceedings are disfavored but may be ordered in order to maintain uniformity of decisions within the circuit or if the issue is exceptionally important. Fed. R. App. P. 35(a). Each court of appeals also has particular rules regarding en banc proceedings. Only a court sitting en banc or the Supreme Court of the United States can overrule a prior decision in that circuit; in other words, one panel cannot overrule another.

Pub.L. 95-486 states that for courts with more than 15 judges, an en banc hearing may consist of "such number of members of its en banc courts as may be prescribed by rule of the court of appeals." So far, only the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with 29 judges, utilizes that procedure, and its en banc court consists of 11 judges. Theoretically, the Ninth Circuit can hear the case with all judges participating. In practice, however, such a hearing has only been asked for four times; the requests have all been denied.^[4][5][6]

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, with 17 judges, is eligible to adopt a similar procedure and has done so in 1986. State of La. ex rel. Guste v. M/V TESTBANK, 752 F.2d 1019 (5th Cir. 1985) (en banc).

See also[link]

• Full Court

References[link]

Banq (also Banc, banc-corp, bancorp, or bancorporation) is an intentionally erroneous spelling of the word bank, but pronounced the same way. It has been adopted by companies which are not banks but wish to appear as such, and satisfy legal restrictions on the usage of the word bank.^{[citation needed]}

In the United States, the commerce departments of state governments generally prohibit or restrict the use of certain words in the names of corporations unless those corporations are legitimate chartered banks. For example, words prohibited by the state of Louisiana^[1] include bank, banker, banking, savings, safe deposit, trust, trustee, and credit union.

The evasive nature of the word does not necessarily indicate that an imposter is attempting to fraudulently impersonate a bank. One notable example is a company called Cachet Banq^[2], an ACH (automated clearing house) processing service that performs automated banking transactions for payroll processing. The company does not claim to offer any banking services, such as deposits or loans, and would only be able to legally include the word "bank" in its name in its home state of California with the approval of the California Department of Financial Institutions^[3].

A similar example includes a company called Wine Banq^[4], whose name clearly suggests it has nothing to do with the banking industry.

Naming laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction as well as their interpretations. Notable counter-examples include blood banks and sperm banks.

For instance, if the original company is known as Bank of America, then the new investment banking entity may be known as Banc of America Securities LLC. If the original company is known as Bank of Manhattan, then its insurance business might be known as "Banc of Manhattan Insurance" and its holding company might be called "Manhattan Bancorp". This practice originates from legal necessity: Under the laws of most states, a corporation may only use the word "bank" in its name if it has obtained a banking charter under state or federal banking laws.

See also[link]

• BANQ (disambiguation)

References[link]

1. ^ Louisiana.gov, Document Compliance Checklist, section on Name Availability
2. ^ Cachet Banq website
3. ^ California Department of Financial Institutions FAQ
4. ^ Wine Banq, http://winebanq.com.au