0165-SB 0180

CHAPTER 165

SB 180 - FINAL VERSION

AN ACT making certain changes in the banking laws.

SPONSORS: Sen. Flanders, Dist 7; Rep. DeStefano, Merr 41

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT making certain changes in the banking laws.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

165:1 Joint Examinations; Regulators Changed. Amend RSA 383:9-a to read as follows:

383:9-a Joint Examination. The commissioner is authorized to arrange for a joint examination by [~~his~~] the banking department and the primary federal regulator, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Bank, Office of Thrift Supervision, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the National Credit Union Administration, of [~~those institutions which are members of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in lieu of examinations exclusively by his department~~] the insured institution.

165:2 Examination of Highly Rated Institutions; "Bank" and "Banks" Replaced. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 383:9-d to read as follows:

The bank commissioner may, at his or her discretion, waive one 18-month examination requirement under RSA 383:9 every 6 years for [~~banks~~] institutions which have consistently been given high ratings in past examinations. The commissioner may also substitute for an 18-month examination once every 6 years a report of a federal [~~bank~~] institution examining agency whose reports regularly include a report on New Hampshire [~~banks~~] institutions. Within any 6-year period in which 4 18-month examinations are required under RSA 383:9, the commissioner may for highly rated institutions:

165:3 Bank Reports; Credit Unions Included. Amend RSA 383:13, I - I-a to read as follows:

I. The treasurers of all institutions under the supervision of the commissioner shall balance their books at the close of business on the last business day in December in each year, and within 30 calendar days thereafter shall make reports to the commissioner, upon blanks furnished by [~~him~~] the commissioner, showing the true conditions of the institutions at that time. The commissioner shall prescribe what information the reports shall contain [~~and their form~~] including those forms required by federal regulating agencies, and shall seasonably furnish blanks upon which they shall be made. Any institution which neglects to make said report within the time prescribed in this section shall forfeit to the state $25 for each day during which such neglect continues.

I-a. The treasurers of all banks, trust companies, guaranty savings banks, mutual savings banks, savings and loan associations, building and loan associations, [~~and~~] cooperative banks and credit unions under the supervision of the commissioner shall balance their books at the close of business on the last business day in March, June and September each year, and within 30 calendar days, respectively, thereafter shall make reports to the commissioner in such form as he or she shall prescribe.

165:4 Commissioner's Reports; Requirements Removed. Amend RSA 383:15 to read as follows:

383:15 Commissioner's Reports. The commissioner shall file with the governor and council his or her annual report, which shall contain [~~a statement of the resources and liabilities of~~] information concerning each institution under [~~his~~] the commissioner's supervision[, the amount of earnings of each institution for a 12-month period, or for such period as he may select, and the disbursements for the same period for taxes, expenses, and other charges together with the rate and the amount of the dividends paid during the time]. The report shall also give the names of the officers of each institution[~~, the amount of the surety bonds covering officers and employees, the total salary and compensation paid to officers and employees, with~~] and such other information as he or she may deem necessary. [He] The commissioner shall make such recommendations therein as he or she thinks will promote the public good.

165:5 Interest on Escrow Accounts; Regular Passbook Savings Accounts Removed. Amend RSA 384:16-c to read as follows:

384:16-c Interest on Escrow Accounts. Any bank which requires or accepts moneys for deposit in escrow accounts maintained for the payment of taxes or insurance premiums related to loans on property secured by real estate mortgages shall credit each such escrow account with interest at a minimum rate set for a 6-month period by the bank commissioner on February 1 and August 1 of each year which shall be one percent below the mean interest rate paid by New Hampshire chartered banks on [~~regular passbook~~] savings accounts. The commissioner shall announce such rate to applicable New Hampshire trade associations. Each bank subject to the provisions of this section shall inform itself of such rate by contacting applicable New Hampshire trade associations or the banking department.

165:6 Deposit Insurance; Reference to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Removed. Amend RSA 386-A:19-a to read as follows:

386-A:19-a Deposit Insurance. It shall be unlawful for any such corporation to commence business until it has qualified as a bank whose deposits are federally insured [~~by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or by any successor thereto~~]. The bank commissioner may cause any such corporation to cease doing business whenever it ceases to be qualified as required in this section.

165:7 Reorganization of Mutual Savings Banks into Mutual Holding Companies; Notice to Bank Commissioner; Rules Changed from Mandatory to Permissive. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 386-B:4 to read as follows:

A mutual savings bank, having adopted a plan of reorganization in accordance with RSA 386-B:3, shall provide the bank commissioner with 60 days' prior written notice of the proposed reorganization. The notice shall include the plan of reorganization, accompanied by certified copies of the required votes of its trustees and corporators pursuant to RSA 386-B:3, and such other relevant information as the bank commissioner [~~shall~~] may require pursuant to RSA 386-B:12 or by specific request in connection with a notice. Unless the bank commissioner, within such 60 day notice period, disapproves the proposed mutual holding company formation, or extends for another 30 days the period during which such disapproval may issue, the mutual savings bank providing such notice may proceed with the proposed reorganization. The bank commissioner may disapprove any proposed mutual holding company formation only if:

165:8 Chartering of Subsidiary Guaranty Savings Bank; Rules Changed from Mandatory to Permissive. Amend RSA 386-B:9, VI to read as follows:

VI. The charter shall contain a restriction to the effect that no shares of the capital stock of the subsidiary guaranty savings bank may be directly or indirectly issued to or held by a person other than the mutual holding company unless the issuance or holding of such shares is first approved by a 2/3 majority of the board of directors of the mutual holding company and its corporators and then is approved by the bank commissioner in compliance with the provisions of this paragraph. The bank commissioner [~~shall~~] may adopt rules under the authority of RSA 386-B:12 governing the direct or indirect issuance or holding of shares of the capital stock of the subsidiary guaranty savings bank by any person other than the mutual holding company which are comparable to those adopted by the bank commissioner governing the conversion of savings banks from mutual to stock form. In no event shall shares of the capital stock of the subsidiary guaranty savings bank be directly or indirectly issued to or held by any person other than the mutual holding company unless the bank commissioner determines that it does not provide the corporators, directors, officers, and employees of the mutual holding company, and the directors or trustees, officers, and employees of the subsidiary guaranty savings bank with any benefit, privilege, or advantage not generally available to savings depositors and it does not impair the rights of the savings depositors.

165:9 Rulemaking; Change from Mandatory to Permissive. Amend RSA 386-B:12 to read as follows:

386-B:12 Rulemaking. The bank commissioner [~~shall~~] may adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

165:10 Conversion to and from Federal Charter; Rulemaking Optional. Amend RSA 389-A:5 to read as follows:

II. Any federal savings and loan association doing business in this state may convert itself into a mutual savings bank created under the laws of this state, in accordance with the procedure prescribed for conversion of federal savings and loan associations into building and loan associations in RSA 393:50-54, inclusive, and for this purpose shall have all the rights, powers and privileges granted to converting federal savings and loan associations under these sections; provided however, that the form of the articles of agreement required by RSA 393:51 shall conform to the provisions of RSA 386-A insofar as applicable; that the provisions of RSA 386-A and all other general laws relating to savings banks shall apply to the converted institutions; and that the bank commissioner [~~shall~~] may adopt rules pursuant to RSA 541-A, for the procedure to be followed by any such converting institution.

165:11 Repeal. RSA 383:13, I-b, relative to reports by credit unions, is repealed.