A bank is initiating the process of acquiring another smaller bank. Before negotiations happen between the organizations, which of the follwing business documents would be used as the FIRST step in…

An MOU outlines agreed-upon intentions and expectations between parties but is executed after initial confidentiality is established via an NDA, not before.

An OLA defines internal service responsibilities between departments within the same organization and is not relevant to the initiation of an external acquisition.

A BPA formalizes an ongoing business partnership and comes much later in the acquisition process, after due diligence and negotiations are complete.

Before a bank acquisition can proceed, both parties must agree to keep shared information confidential, because highly sensitive financial, operational, and customer data will be exchanged during due diligence. An NDA legally binds both parties to confidentiality from the outset, creating the trust foundation necessary for candid negotiations. No other business agreement is appropriate as the first step because all subsequent documents presuppose that information has already been safely shared.