Georgia Administrative Code

(1) Regular applications for permission to become a bank holding company as defined in O.C.G.A. § 7-1-605, to acquire control of a banking subsidiary, to acquire 5% or more of the shares of another bank holding company, or to continue to be a holding company after becoming a hold…

(1) The qualifying criteria for a bank holding company to be eligible for expedited processing for an acquisition is as follows: (a) Well-capitalized organization. 1. Bank holding company (BHC). Both at the time of and immediately after the proposed transaction, the acquiring BHC…

(1) Only a holding company which has lawfully purchased or acquired a bank in Georgia may qualify under this Rule to form a de novo bank, pursuant to provisions of O.C.G.A. § 7-1-608(b)(3). The holding company must wholly own the proposed bank to qualify for expedited processing.…

(1) The applicant shall publish not more than thirty (30) days prior to filing the application the following notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the bank or holding company to be acquired is located: NOTICE OF PROPOSED ACQUISITION OR MERGER BY A COMPA…

Applications and registration statements filed with the Department and documents submitted to the Department in connection with such filings shall be public information, subject to Rule . Requests for confidential treatment shall be subject to review by the Department. Comments r…

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Rule , the Commissioner may, in his discretion, require public hearings to be held with respect to an application pending before him. Such hearings shall be held in accordance with the provisions of Rule . (2) Whenever the Commissioner, in hi…

(1) It shall be a basis for denial of an application for any person to make any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading, or t…

(1) Whenever a Georgia bank holding company or a holding company owning a Georgia bank plans to engage in, or to acquire shares of stock in a company to be or which is currently engaged in, non-banking activities, the Department shall be notified of such intention contemporaneous…

Transactions determined by the Commissioner to in substance constitute an internal corporate restructuring by a Georgia bank holding company shall not be considered to be an acquisition of control within the meaning of O.C.G.A. § 7-1-608.

(1) Standards for consideration of applications submitted by a banking holding company, whether covered under this Rule Chapter or otherwise, shall in most cases include: evaluations of financial history and condition of the applicant; adequacy of applicant capital; future earnin…

Within five days of filing with the Secretary of State an amendment of its articles of incorporation under O.C.G.A. § 14-2-1106 or a restatement of its articles of incorporation under O.C.G.A. § 14-2-1107, a holding company shall provide the Department with a duplicate copy of su…

(1) Every Georgia bank holding company or a holding company that owns a Georgia bank and its non-banking subsidiaries shall be audited at least annually by independent public accountants in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards with copies of such audit maintained…

(1) On or before the date of the annual stockholders' meeting of a Georgia bank holding company or a holding company owning a Georgia bank, the shareholders of the holding company, regardless of class or voting rights, shall be provided a copy of the audit report required in Rule…

No Georgia bank holding company or holding company owning a Georgia bank may enter into contractual debt obligations which in the aggregate are dependent upon revenues produced by subsidiaries for annual servicing during the term of the debt in excess of fifty (50) percent of the…

Companies determined to be holding companies pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 7-1-605, but not subject to the Federal Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, are required to file all reports and applications required by Rule Chapter 80-6-1 and Rule Chapter 80-6-2 notwithstanding such…

This rule chapter applies to all Georgia state branches, Georgia state agencies and Georgia state representative offices of foreign banks. Nothing in the Department's rules relieves a Georgia state branch, Georgia state agency or Georgia state representative office from complying…

(1) For purposes of this rule chapter, the following terms have the meanings assigned to them by O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1100: "affiliate", "agency", "bank", "bank supervisory agency", "branch" (when used in reference to an office of a foreign bank), "control", "deposit", "depository inst…

(1) Approval and licensing requirements - (a) General. Except as otherwise provided in this Rule, a foreign bank shall submit an application to and obtain prior approval from the Department before it: (i) establishes a Georgia state branch or a Georgia state agency; or (ii) estab…

(1) Applicability of laws - (a) General. As provided in O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1106, except as otherwise provided by the International Banking Act, other Federal laws or regulations, other state laws or regulations, or otherwise determined by the Department, the operations of a foreign b…

(1) General. A Georgia state branch or Georgia state agency shall not engage in any activity not authorized under O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1116 except as authorized by the Department in accordance with this rule. (2) Request. A Georgia state branch or Georgia state agency may request the D…

(1) General. Any limitation or restriction based upon the capital of a Georgia state bank shall be deemed to refer, as applied to a Georgia state branch or Georgia state agency, to the dollar equivalent of the capital of the foreign bank. (2) Calculation. Unless otherwise provide…

(1) Policy. In carrying out this Rule, the Department shall consider the importance of according foreign banks competitive opportunities equal to those of United States banks and the availability of credit to all sectors of the Georgia state economy, including international trade…

A Georgia state branch, Georgia state agency, or Georgia state representative office shall notify the Department not less than ten (10) calendar days in advance of the effective date of the action (except when not reasonably practicable due to exigent circumstances) if: (a) Title…

(1) General. A Georgia state branch, Georgia state agency, and Georgia state representative office shall comply with the record keeping requirements in O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1102, all other applicable recordkeeping and reporting requirements that apply to Georgia state banks, and with a…

In cases in which a foreign bank proposes to close any or all of its Georgia state representative offices, the foreign bank shall provide the Department with written notice not less than 30 calendar days before the date of the proposed closure. The notice by a foreign bank regard…

(1) Pledged Assets requirement, valuation, approved depositories - A foreign bank licensed to establish and maintain a Georgia state branch or Georgia state agency shall be required to pledge to the Department money and securities (the "pledged assets") in an aggregate amount as …

(1) Highly rated foreign bank. For purposes of these Rules, a foreign bank is a highly rated foreign bank if each Georgia state branch and Georgia state agency, each federal branch and federal agency of the foreign bank, and each state branch and agency maintained by the foreign …

(1) Unless further defined herein, definitions contained in Chapter 1 of Title 7 of the Official Code of Georgia, shall be applicable to this Rule chapter. (2) Definitions contained herein shall be applicable to O.C.G.A. §§ 7-1-730 through 7-1-734 and this Rule chapter. (a) "Pare…

Banks shall, unless otherwise restricted, have the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as are granted to IBF's herein or by statute.

(1) Applications and registrations of IBFs shall be on forms prescribed by and available through the Department. (2) Applications and registration forms shall be accompanied by such additional information as is required by O.C.G.A. § 7-1-732. (3) Applications and registrations sh…

(1) The phrase "deposits subject to check or draft" as used in O.C.G.A. §§ 7-1-730 through 7-1-734 shall not include deposits withdrawn by wire transfer or by check or draft where the check or draft is payable to the owner of the deposit or an affiliate of the owner and where the…

(1) Balances maintained in violation of restrictions against deposits shall be returned to the owner within ninety (90) days of receipt of a notice from the Department to terminate the account unless a review by the Department at the written request of the IBF results in a determ…

(1) The Department is organized pursuant to the provisions of O.C.G.A. § 7-1-30 and is charged with the responsibility of supervising the activities of depository financial institutions and certain other financial entities operating pursuant to the provisions of Title 7. (2) The …

(1) The DBF fulfills its responsibilities under Title 7 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated through direct examination and investigation of financial institutions and other licensees, applications submitted by such institutions, and through administrative analysis of data s…

Specific information and inquiries concerning the activities of the DBF may be obtained by writing the Department of Banking and Finance, Suite 200, 2990 Brandywine Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30341. Requests for forms for submission of applications for approval to establish or expand…

(1) Any affected party may petition the DBF to promulgate, amend or repeal a rule or regulation. Such petition shall be submitted to the DBF and shall be in writing, signed by the petitioner(s). Such petition shall state concisely the proposed change, the legal authority under wh…

Any affected party may petition the DBF for a declaratory ruling as to the applicability of any provision of law subject to the administration of the DBF or any Rule, order or policy of the DBF. Such petition shall be in writing, signed by the petitioner(s), and shall state conci…

(1) The Department of Banking and Finance has no governing board. It holds meetings to approve proposed rules. Such proposed rules are distributed from time to time in a special edition of the Department's bulletin to all affected entities regulated or supervised by the Departmen…

(1) A financial institution required to report any currency transaction in excess of $10,000 including a transaction in excess of $100,000 may satisfy state currency transaction filing and reporting requirements by filing a timely report (FinCEN Form 104) with the federal authori…

Financial institutions must comply with federal requirements for detecting and reporting any suspicious activities. A copy of any suspicious activity report ("SAR") filed by a financial institution shall be provided to the Department upon request.

All financial institutions should review applicable exemptions from filing in the Bank Secrecy Act and such lawful exemptions shall apply under this chapter.

These rules are adopted and published pursuant to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) § 26-5-1et seq.

(1) These rules shall be known as the Rules and Regulations for Drug Abuse Treatment and Education Programs. (2) The purpose of these rules is to provide minimal requirements for the licensing and survey of drug abuse treatment and education programs. (3) These rules do not apply…