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Title 12 — Banks and BankingRelease 119-73

§143 Banks in Alaska and insular possessions; lawful money reserves

Title 12 › Chapter CHAPTER 2— - NATIONAL BANKS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER VIII— - RESERVE CITIES; LAWFUL RESERVES › § 143

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Banks in Alaska and U.S. territories that are national banks and not members of the Federal Reserve must keep at least 15% of all their deposits in U.S. legal money on hand at all times. If a bank’s cash falls below 15%, it cannot make new loans or pay dividends until the reserve is back up. It may only buy or discount bills of exchange that are payable on sight (paid immediately). The Comptroller of the Currency will notify the bank. If the bank does not restore the reserve within 30 days, the Comptroller, with the Treasury Secretary’s agreement, can appoint a receiver to close the bank and wind up its business under section 192.

Full Legal Text

Title 12, §143

Banks and Banking — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Every national banking association located in Alaska or in a dependency or insular possession or any part of the United States outside of the continental United States, and not a member of the Federal reserve system, shall at all times have on hand in lawful money of the United States an amount equal to at least 15 percent of the aggregate amount of its deposits in all respects. Whenever the lawful money of any such association shall fall below 15 percent of its deposits such association shall not increase its liabilities by making any new loans or discounts other than by discounting or purchasing bills of exchange payable at sight nor make any dividends of its profits until the required proportion between the aggregate amount of its deposits and its lawful money of the United States has been restored. And the Comptroller of the Currency shall notify any such association whose lawful money reserve shall be below the amount required to be kept on hand to make good such reserve, and if such association shall fail for thirty days thereafter so to make good its lawful money the Comptroller may, with the concurrence of the Secretary of the Treasury, appoint a receiver to wind up the business of the association as provided in section 192 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification R.S. § 5191 derived from act June 3, 1864, ch. 106, § 31, 13 Stat. 108, which was the National Bank Act, and act Mar. 1, 1872, ch. 22, 17 Stat. 32. See section 38 of this title. Some of the other provisions of R.S. § 5191 were classified to section 141 of this title prior to its omission from the Code, some are classified to section 142 of this title, and some were not included in the Code.

Executive Documents

Exception as to

Transfer of Functions

Functions vested by any provision of law in Comptroller of the Currency, referred to in this section, not included in

Transfer of Functions

to Secretary of the Treasury, see note set out under section 1 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

12 U.S.C. § 143

Title 12 — Banks and Banking

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73