BANKS AND BANKING
CHAPTER 7
LIMITATIONS ON LOANS, INVESTMENTS, AND PRACTICES
26-705. Loans to one person. (1) The total loans and extensions of credit by a bank to a person outstanding at one (1) time, shall at no time exceed twenty percent (20%) of the capital structure of such bank.
(2) "Borrower" means a person who is named as a borrower or debtor in a loan or extension of credit, a counterparty to whom a bank has credit exposure in a derivative transaction entered into by the bank, or any other person including a drawer, endorser or guarantor, who is deemed to be a borrower under the direct benefit and common enterprise tests set forth in this section.
(3) "Derivative transaction" includes any transaction that is a contract, agreement, swap, warrant, note or option that is based, in whole or in part, on the value of, any interest in or any quantitative measure or the occurrence of any event relating to, one (1) or more commodities, securities, currencies, interest or other rates, indices or other assets.
(4) "Loans and extensions of credit" means a bank’s direct or indirect advance of funds to or on behalf of a borrower based upon an obligation of the borrower to repay the funds, or repayable from specific property pledged by or on behalf of the borrower, and includes, for the purposes of this section:
(a) A contractual commitment to advance funds;
(b) A maker or endorser’s obligation arising from a bank’s discount of commercial paper;
(c) A bank’s purchase of securities subject to an agreement that the seller shall repurchase the securities at the end of a stated period, but not including a bank’s purchase of type I securities, as defined in 12 CFR part 1, subject to a repurchase agreement, where the purchasing bank has assured control over or has established its rights to the type I securities as collateral;
(d) A bank’s purchase of third-party paper subject to an agreement that the seller shall repurchase the paper upon default or at the end of a stated period. The amount of the bank’s loan is the total unpaid balance of the paper owned by the bank less any applicable dealer reserves retained by the bank and held by the bank as collateral security. Where the seller’s obligation to repurchase is limited, the bank’s loan is measured by the total amount of the paper the seller may ultimately be obligated to repurchase. A bank’s purchase of third party paper without direct or indirect recourse to the seller is not a loan or extension of credit to the seller;
(e) An overdraft, whether or not prearranged, but not an intraday overdraft for which payment is received before the close of business of the bank that makes the funds available;
(f) The sale of federal funds with a maturity of more than one (1) business day, but not federal funds with a maturity of one (1) day or less or federal funds sold under a continuing contract;
(g) Loans or extensions of credit that have been charged off on the books of the bank in whole or in part, unless the loan or extension of credit:
(i) Is unenforceable by reason of discharge in bankruptcy;
(ii) Is no longer legally enforceable because of expiration of the statute of limitations or a judicial decision; or
(iii) Is no longer legally enforceable for other reasons, provided that the bank maintains sufficient records to demonstrate that the loan is unenforceable; and
(h) Any credit exposure in a derivative transaction.
(5) The following items do not constitute loans or extensions of credit for purposes of this section:
(a) Additional funds advanced for the benefit of a borrower by a bank for payment of taxes, insurance, utilities, security, and maintenance and operating expenses necessary to preserve the value of real property securing the loan, consistent with safe and sound banking practices, but only if the advance is for the protection of the bank’s interest in the collateral, and provided that such amounts must be treated as an extension of credit if a new loan or extension of credit is made to the borrower;
(b) Accrued and discounted interest on an existing loan or extension of credit, including interest that has been capitalized from prior notes and interest that has been advanced under terms and conditions of a loan agreement;
(c) Financed sales of a bank’s own assets, including other real estate owned, if the financing does not put the bank in a worse position than when the bank held title to the assets;
(d) A renewal or restructuring of a loan as a new loan or extension of credit, following the exercise by a bank of reasonable efforts, consistent with safe and sound banking practices, to bring the loan into conformance with the lending limit, unless new funds are advanced by the bank to the borrower (except as permitted by this section), or a new borrower replaces the original borrower, or unless the director determines that a renewal or restructuring was undertaken as a means to evade the bank’s lending limit;
(e) Amounts paid against uncollected funds in the normal process of collection;
(f) (i) That portion of a loan or extension of credit sold as a participation by a bank on a nonrecourse basis, provided that the participation results in a pro rata sharing of credit risk proportionate to the respective interests of the originating and participating lenders. Where a participation agreement provides that repayment must be applied first to the portions sold, a pro rata sharing shall be deemed to exist only if the agreement also provides that, in the event of a default or comparable event defined in the agreement, participants must share in all subsequent repayments and collections in proportion to their percentage participation at the time of the occurrence of the event.
(ii) When an originating bank funds the entire loan, it must receive funding from the participants before the close of business of its next business day. If the participating portions are not received within that period, then the portions funded shall be treated as a loan by the originating bank to the borrower. If the portions so attributed to the borrower exceed the originating bank’s lending limit, the loan may be treated as nonconforming, rather than a violation, if:
1. The originating bank had a valid and unconditional participation agreement with a participating bank or banks that was sufficient to reduce the loan to within the originating bank’s lending limit;
2. The participating bank reconfirmed its participation and the originating bank had no knowledge of any information that would permit the participant to withhold its participation; and
3. The participation was to be funded by close of business of the originating bank’s next business day; and
(g) Intraday credit exposure in a derivative transaction.
(6) The following loans or extensions of credit are not subject to the lending limits of this section:
(a) The discount of bills of exchange drawn in good faith against actual existing values;
(b) The discount of bankers’ acceptances of other banks;
(c) The discount of commercial or business paper actually owned by the person negotiating the same;
(d) The obligations of the United States or general obligations of any state or of any political subdivision thereof, or obligation issued under authority of the federal farm loan act;
(e) Loans made on warehouse receipts and bills of lading, when such warehouse receipts and bills of lading cover nonperishable commodities of the marketable value of at least one hundred twenty percent (120%) of the amount loaned thereon;
(f) Loans and extensions of credit to the extent secured or covered by guaranties, or by commitments or agreements to take over or to purchase, made by any federal reserve bank or by the United States or any department, bureau, board, commission, or establishment of the United States, including any corporation wholly owned directly or indirectly by the United States; or
(g) Loans, including portions thereof, secured by a segregated deposit account in the lending bank, provided a security interest in the deposit has been perfected under applicable law.
(7) Combination. Loans or extensions of credit to one (1) borrower shall be attributed to another person and each person shall be deemed a borrower when proceeds of a loan or extension of credit are to be used for the direct benefit of the other person, to the extent of the proceeds so used, or when a common enterprise is deemed to exist between the persons.
(a) Direct benefit. The proceeds of a loan or extension of credit to a borrower shall be deemed to be used for the direct benefit of another person and shall be attributed to the other person when the proceeds, or assets purchased with the proceeds, are transferred to another person, other than in a bona fide arm’s length transaction where the proceeds are used to acquire property, goods or services.
(b) Common enterprise. A common enterprise shall be deemed to exist and loans to separate borrowers shall be aggregated:
(i) When the expected source of repayment for each loan or extension of credit is the same for each borrower and neither borrower has another source of income from which the loan (together with the borrower’s other obligations) may be fully repaid. An employer shall not be treated as a source of repayment under this paragraph because of wages and salaries paid to an employee unless the standards of paragraph (b)(ii) of this subsection are met;
(ii) When loans or extensions of credit are made:
1. To borrowers who are related directly or indirectly through common control, including where one (1) borrower is directly or indirectly controlled by another borrower; and
2. Substantial financial interdependence exists between or among the borrowers. Substantial financial interdependence is deemed to exist when fifty percent (50%) or more of one (1) borrower’s gross receipts or gross expenditures (on an annual basis) are derived from transactions with the other borrower. Gross receipts and expenditures include gross revenues/expenses, intercompany loans, dividends, capital contributions, and similar receipts or payments;
(iii) When separate persons borrow from a bank to acquire a business enterprise of which those borrowers will own more than fifty percent (50%) of the voting securities or voting interests, in which case a common enterprise is deemed to exist between the borrowers for purposes of combining the acquisition loans; or
(iv) When the director determines, based upon an evaluation of the facts and circumstances of particular transactions, that a common enterprise exists.
(c) Loans to a corporate group.
(i) Loans or extensions of credit by a bank to a corporate group may not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the bank’s capital and surplus. A corporate group includes a person and all of its subsidiaries. For purposes of this paragraph, a corporation or a limited liability company is a subsidiary of a person if the person owns or beneficially owns directly or indirectly more than fifty percent (50%) of the voting securities or voting interests of the corporation or company.
(ii) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(i) of this subsection, loans or extensions of credit to a person and its subsidiary, or to different subsidiaries of a person, are not combined unless either the direct benefit or the common enterprise test is met.
(d) Loans to partnerships, joint ventures, and associations.
(i) Partnership loans. Loans or extensions of credit to a partnership, joint venture or association are deemed to be loans or extensions of credit to each member of the partnership, joint venture or association. This rule does not apply to limited partners in limited partnerships or to members of joint ventures or associations if the partners or members, by the terms of the partnership or membership agreement, are not held generally liable for the debts or actions of the partnership, joint venture or association, and those provisions are valid under applicable law.
(ii) Loans to partners.
1. Loans or extensions of credit to members of a partnership, joint venture or association are not attributed to the partnership, joint venture or association unless either the direct benefit or the common enterprise test is met. Both the direct benefit and common enterprise tests are met between a member of a partnership, joint venture or association and such partnership, joint venture or association, when loans or extensions of credit are made to the member to purchase an interest in the partnership, joint venture or association.
2. Loans or extensions of credit to members of a partnership, joint venture or association are not attributed to other members of the partnership, joint venture or association unless either the direct benefit or common enterprise test is met.
(e) Loans to foreign governments and their agencies and instrumentalities.
(i) Aggregation. Loans and extensions of credit to foreign governments and their agencies and instrumentalities shall be aggregated with one another only if the loans or extensions of credit fail to meet either the means test or the purpose test at the time the loan or extension of credit is made.
1. The means test is satisfied if the borrower has resources or revenue of its own sufficient to service its debt obligations. If the government’s support (excluding guarantees by a central government of the borrower’s debt) exceeds the borrower’s annual revenues from other sources, it shall be presumed that the means test has not been satisfied.
2. The purpose test is satisfied if the purpose of the loan or extension of credit is consistent with the purposes of the borrower’s general business.
(ii) Documentation. In order to show that the means and purpose tests have been satisfied, a bank must, at a minimum, retain in its files the following items:
1. A statement (accompanied by supporting documentation) describing the legal status and the degree of financial and operational autonomy of the borrowing entity;
2. Financial statements for the borrowing entity for a minimum of three (3) years prior to the date the loan or extension of credit was made or for each year that the borrowing entity has been in existence, if less than three (3) years;
3. Financial statements for each year the loan or extension of credit is outstanding;
4. The bank’s assessment of the borrower’s means of servicing the loan or extension of credit, including specific reasons in support of that assessment. The assessment shall include an analysis of the borrower’s financial history, its present and projected economic and financial performance, and the significance of any financial support provided to the borrower by third parties, including the borrower’s central government; and
5. A loan agreement or other written statement from the borrower that clearly describes the purpose of the loan or extension of credit. The written representation will ordinarily constitute sufficient evidence that the purpose test has been satisfied. However, when, at the time the funds are disbursed, the bank knows or has reason to know of other information suggesting that the borrower will use the proceeds in a manner inconsistent with the written representation, it may not, without further inquiry, accept the representation.
(8) A bank shall evaluate the credit exposure in a derivative transaction in accordance with a methodology approved by any federal bank supervisory agency. In each type of derivative transaction a bank engages in, a bank shall use the same credit exposure methodology in all derivative transactions of that type.
(9) Lending limit calculation. For purposes of determining compliance with this section, a bank shall determine its lending limit as of the last day of the preceding calendar quarter. A bank’s lending limit calculated in accordance with this section shall be effective on the date that the limit is to be calculated. If the director determines for safety and soundness reasons that a bank should calculate its lending limit more frequently than required by this subsection, the director may provide written notice to the bank directing the bank to calculate its lending limit at a more frequent interval, and the bank shall thereafter calculate its lending limit at that interval until further notice from the director.
(10) Nonconforming loans and extensions of credit. A loan or extension of credit, within a bank’s legal lending limit when made, shall not be deemed a violation but shall be treated as nonconforming if the loan or extension of credit is no longer in conformity with the bank’s lending limit because:
(a) The bank’s capital has declined, borrowers have subsequently merged or formed a common enterprise, lenders have merged, or the lending limit or capital rules have changed. A bank must use reasonable efforts to bring a loan or extension of credit that is nonconforming under this subsection into conformity with the bank’s lending limit unless to do so would be inconsistent with safe and sound banking practices.
(b) Collateral securing the loan or extension of credit to satisfy the requirements of a lending limit exception has declined in value. A bank must bring a loan or extension of credit that is nonconforming under this subsection into conformity with the bank’s lending limit within thirty (30) calendar days, except when judicial proceedings, regulatory actions or other extraordinary circumstances beyond the bank’s control prevent the bank from taking action.
(c) In the case of credit exposure in a derivative transaction, the credit exposure increases after execution of the transaction. A bank must use reasonable efforts to bring a derivative transaction that is nonconforming under this subsection into conformity with the bank’s lending limit unless to do so would be inconsistent with safe and sound banking practices.
(11) When in the judgment of the director the loans and extensions of credit to any person, or the combined loans and extensions of credit to any corporation and one (1) or more of its stockholders are excessive, he shall require the reduction thereof to such limits and within such time as he shall prescribe.
Provided, further, that the director may compel the reduction of any loan or extension of credit which shall in his judgment appear excessive or dangerous.
History:
[(26-705) 26-709, added 1979, ch. 41, sec. 2, p. 90; am. and redesig. 2004, ch. 159, sec. 5, p. 516; am. 2013, ch. 55, sec. 1, p. 124.]