Subchapter IV. Powers and Prohibitions
TITLE 5
Banking
Banks and Trust Companies
CHAPTER 16. CORPORATION LAW FOR STATE SAVINGS BANKS
Subchapter IV. Powers and Prohibitions
§ 1661. General powers of corporations organized under this chapter.
(a) A corporation established under and in compliance with this chapter shall have power to:
(1) Sue and be sued, complain and defend in any court of law or equity;
(2) Make and use a common seal and alter the same at pleasure;
(3) Hold, purchase, convey, mortgage or lease real and personal property;
(4) Borrow and lend money;
(5) Discount bills, promissory notes or other evidences of debt;
(6) Receive deposits of money either on time or demand;
(7) Buy and sell gold and silver bullion and foreign money and coin;
(8) Purchase securities for the investment of the funds under its control and sell the same;
(9) Take mortgages and obligations of all kinds for payment of money for the investment of funds under its control and sell the same;
(10) Receive for safekeeping securities and all types of choses in action and all kinds of personal property;
(11) Keep deposit boxes and rent them to customers or patrons;
(12) Engage in the sale, distribution and underwriting of, and deal in, stocks, bonds, debentures, notes or other securities;
(13) Exercise the powers and engage in the activities permissible for such corporations through 1 or more subsidiaries;
(14) Act as an insurer and transact the business of insurance in accordance with the provisions of Title 18; except that no corporation established under and in compliance with this chapter shall have power to act as a title insurer and transact the business of title insurance;
(15) Act as guarantor or surety for the debt or obligation of another, including, specifically but without limitation, the rediscounting with recourse of commercial paper and the issuance of letters of credit as defined in § 5-103(1)(a) of Title 6 and standby letters of credit. As used herein, the term "standby letter of credit" includes every letter of credit (or similar arrangement however named or designated) which represents an obligation to the beneficiary on the part of the issuer to repay money borrowed by or advanced to or for the account of the customer, or to make payment on account of any evidence of indebtedness undertaken by the customer, or to make payment on account of any default by the customer in performance of an obligation. The terms "beneficiary," "issuer" and "customer," as used herein, have the same meaning as in § 5-103(1) of Title 6;
(16) Authorize an affiliated insured depository institution (as those terms are defined in § 796 of this title) to engage in the authorized agency activities provided in § 796A of this title;
(17) Be appointed executor of a will, codicil or writing testamentary, administrator with the will annexed or administrator of the estate of any decedent, receiver, assignee, guardian, conservator or trustee by will or by any written instrument or other act of the parties, or by any court or official, under the same circumstances, in the same manner and subject to the same control by the court having jurisdiction of the same, as a legally qualified individual;
(18) Act as agent for the purpose of issuing, registering or countersigning the certificates of stock, bonds or other evidences of indebtedness of a corporation, association, municipal corporation, state or national government, on such terms as may be agreed upon, and also act as trustee for the bondholders of a corporation, and for such purpose may receive transfers of real and personal property upon such terms as may be agreed upon; and
(19) Generally, use, exercise and enjoy all of the powers, rights, privileges and franchises incident to a banking corporation or a trust company, and which are necessary or proper for the transaction of the business of the corporation.
(b) All powers conferred by this section are subject to and are to be construed as qualified by the limitations, restrictions and regulations prescribed by the Commissioner or in other sections of this chapter or by this Code or any other statute of this State providing regulations for banks and trust companies.
71 Del. Laws, c. 25, § 35.;
§ 1662. Limitations on powers and activities of savings banks.
(a)(1) A savings bank shall operate so as to satisfy the Qualified Thrift Lender Test, as provided in § 10(m) of the Home Owners' Loan Act (12 U.S.C. § 1467a(m)), or in accordance with such regulations or orders as may be established or issued by the Commissioner. Such regulations or orders shall be similar in scope and content to the provisions in the Qualified Thrift Lender Test, as provided in § 10(m) of the Home Owners' Loan Act (12 U.S.C. § 1467a(m)), as in effect on January 1, 1997.
(2) The aggregate amount of secured or unsecured loans for commercial, corporate, business or agricultural purposes made by a savings bank may not exceed 20 percent of the total assets of the savings bank, and amounts in excess of 10 percent of such total assets may be used under this paragraph only for small business loans.
(b)(1) Any savings bank which engages in any activity authorized by § 1661(a)(14) of this title otherwise than through a subsidiary thereof shall engage in each such activity through a department or division which shall maintain financial records separate and distinct from other records of such bank or trust company; provided, that such division may be established and may engage in each such activity only in accordance with the provisions of Title 18.
(2) A savings bank which engages in any activity authorized by § 1661(a)(14) of this title, whether through a department, division or subsidiary, may make loans to and transact other business with such department, division or subsidiary; provided, that such loan or other transaction is made on terms and under circumstances substantially the same as for comparable transactions with or involving other customers or, in the absence of comparable transactions, upon terms and under circumstances that in good faith would be offered to or would apply to other customers.
(3) No department, division or subsidiary of a savings bank which engages in any activity authorized by § 1661(a)(14) of this title shall utilize, in any manner or for any purpose, the information contained in any insurance contract between a nonaffiliated insurer and the insured which such company has obtained from the insured in connection with any request for an extension of credit.
(4) No savings bank which engages in any activity authorized by § 1661(a)(14) of this title shall, in evaluating any request or application for the extension of credit, discriminate against an applicant on the basis that such applicant is a competitor of such savings bank in any such activity.
(5) The offer to sell or the sale of any insurance product authorized to be sold under this section or § 1661(a)(14) shall be made only by those individuals who are validly licensed as insurance agents or brokers in the State or other jurisdiction in which the sale of insurance is offered or consummated. The offer to sell insurance products shall include, but not be limited to, solicitation by mail, telephone, electronic or print media and by personal contact. Violation of this subsection shall subject the violator and the employer of the violator to the penalties prescribed in Title 18 for solicitation or sale of insurance and the receipt or payment of commissions to unauthorized persons, if the violation occurred in this State. The State Bank Commissioner and the Insurance Commissioner shall be charged to advise regulators in other states or jurisdictions when it is discovered that such violations have occurred in such other state or jurisdiction.
71 Del. Laws, c. 25, § 35; 71 Del. Laws, c. 254, § 27.;
§ 1663. Loans on security of and purchase of its own capital stock.
No corporation established under this chapter shall directly or indirectly make a loan or discount on the security of the shares of its own capital stock, nor be the purchaser or holder of such shares, unless such security or purchase shall be necessary to prevent loss upon a debt previously contracted in good faith. The stock so purchased or acquired shall, within 6 months after its purchase or acquisition, be sold or disposed of at public or private sale.
71 Del. Laws, c. 25, § 35.;
§ 1664. Conversion of a nonstock savings bank to a stock savings bank.
Subject to the approval of the Commissioner, a savings bank may convert from a nonstock to a stock form of organization in accordance with such regulations, orders or procedures as may be established or issued by the Commissioner. Such orders and procedures shall be similar in scope and content to, and comply in all material respects with, the mutual-to-stock conversion regulations of the federal insurer of deposits, as currently in effect at the time the nonstock savings bank applies to the Commissioner for approval of the proposed conversion; provided, that conformity with the regulatory requirements imposed by the federal insurer of deposit accounts will not be sufficient for state regulatory purposes if the Commissioner determines that the proposed conversion would pose a risk to the savings bank's safety and soundness, violate any law or regulation, or present a breach of fiduciary duty.
71 Del. Laws, c. 25, § 35.;
§ 1665. Reorganization as a mutual holding company.
Subject to the approval of the State Bank Commissioner, a nonstock savings bank may reorganize so as to become a mutual holding company and, in connection with such reorganization, form a stock savings bank subsidiary of the holding company in accordance with such regulations, orders or procedures as may be established or issued by the Commissioner. Any regulations, orders and procedures established or issued by the Commissioner pursuant to this section shall be similar in scope and content to, and comply in all material respects with, the mutual holding company regulations for savings associations of the Office of Thrift Supervision (or any successor federal banking agency) as currently in effect at the time the nonstock savings bank applies to the Commissioner for approval of the proposed holding company reorganization; provided, that the Commissioner may exempt the savings bank from any regulatory requirement imposed by such Office of Thrift Supervision regulations, including, but not limited to, any requirement that the mutual holding company formation be approved by the nonstock savings bank's depositors; and provided further, that conformity with the regulatory requirements imposed by the Office of Thrift Supervision will not be sufficient for state regulatory purposes if the Commissioner determines that the proposed formation of the mutual holding company would pose a risk to the savings bank's safety and soundness, violate any law or regulation or present a breach of fiduciary duty. Any issuance of stock in the newly-formed savings bank subsidiary of said mutual holding company to any person or entity other than the mutual holding company shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements and procedures for a mutual-to-stock conversion of a savings bank as prescribed by § 1664 of this title.
71 Del. Laws, c. 25, § 35.;