Title 08, Title 08: Banking and Insurance

§ 13102. Issuance of certificate of general good; refusal to issue certificate of general good (a) Certificate of general good. The Commissioner shall determine whether or not a certificate of general good shall be granted to organize a financial institution and shall make the de…

§ 13103. Requirements to commence business; minimum initial capital contribution deposits; examination; certificate of authority (a) At the time the certificate of general good is issued, the Commissioner shall issue an order granting permission to organize that shall set forth t…

§ 13104. Submission to Secretary of State Following the meeting required under subdivision 13103(e)(1) of this title and approval by the Commissioner under subdivision 13103(e)(5) of this title, the directors so elected shall submit to the Secretary of State an attested copy of e…

§ 13105. Payment of capital deposits (a) A financial institution organized under this chapter shall not commence business until the minimum capital deposits required in its permission to organize have been deposited to the credit of the financial institution in a depository desig…

§ 13106. Certificate to commence business (a) Upon receipt of the statement required in section 13105 of this title, the Commissioner shall cause an examination to be made to determine if the minimum capital deposits have been credited to the account of the institution and that a…

§ 13107. Failure to commence business (a) As to any mutual or cooperative financial institution that fails to commence business as a financial institution within two years after receiving a certificate of general good under section 13102 of this title, its certificate of general …

§ 13201. Initial capital deposits; capital reserves (a) The initial capital deposits required under section 13105 of this title for commencing business shall be paid into an account of the institution known as the “capital reserve” account. (b) The institution shall record on its…

§ 13202. Return of initial capital deposit The initial capital deposits, together with any dividends or interest credited thereon, may be returned, pro rata, to the contributors, or their heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, subject to the following conditions and limita…

§ 13203. Capital notes or debentures as capital reserve Subject to prior approval of the Commissioner, a financial institution may issue capital notes or debentures, the proceeds from the sale of which may be used in lieu of capital deposits to establish part of the capital reser…

§ 13301. Corporators of mutual financial institutions (a) Persons named in the organizational documents constitute the original board of corporators of a mutual financial institution. Membership on this board continues until terminated by death, resignation, or disqualification a…

§ 13302. Members of a cooperative financial institution; qualifications and voting rights (a) The members of a cooperative financial institution organized pursuant to this chapter shall be those in whose names accounts are established and persons borrowing from or assuming or obl…

§ 13303. Powers and duties of corporators and members (a) Corporators or members shall hold regular annual meetings, at a time fixed in the internal governance documents of the institution, for the purpose of electing directors of the institution and for the transaction of any ot…

§ 13401. Directors: number, election, qualifications, and term (a) The number of directors on the governing body of a mutual or cooperative financial institution may not be less than five, all of whom shall be residents of the financial institution’s geographic area or an area pr…

§ 13402. Meetings of the governing body (a) The governing body shall hold at least six meetings each year at a time fixed in the internal governance documents, which shall be held at least once each quarter. In any month in which the governing body does not meet, the executive co…

§ 13403. Powers and duties of the governing body (a) The governing body may exercise any and all powers of an institution not expressly reserved to the corporators or members by this title or by the institution’s organizational documents or internal governance documents. (b) The …

§ 13501. Officers (a) Election. Unless another manner for election is provided in the internal governance documents, the governing body shall elect annually from its members a chair, and from its members or otherwise, an executive officer, a secretary, a treasurer, and such other…

§ 13601. Voluntary dissolution; procedure; criteria (a) A mutual or cooperative financial institution shall submit to the Commissioner for approval a plan of dissolution prior to filing its articles of dissolution under Title 11A. The plan shall contain the following items: (1) p…

§ 14101. Applicability of chapter The provisions of this chapter set forth the powers granted to all financial institutions organized pursuant to chapters 202 and 203 of this title and branches of any state or foreign financial institution authorized under section 15202 or 15203 …

§ 14102. General organizational powers (a) A Vermont financial institution shall have all of the powers enumerated in Title 11 or 11A, depending on the organizational form of the institution. (b) Unless otherwise prohibited or limited by part 1, 2, or 5 of this title, a Vermont f…

§ 14103. Advertising; doing business or using name unlawfully No person shall advertise or put forth any sign as a bank, banking association, or trust company, or in any way solicit or receive deposits or transact business as a bank, banking association, financial institution, or…

§ 14104. Capital or surplus requirements (a) Every Vermont financial institution shall establish and maintain adequate levels of capital or surplus pursuant to standards established by the Commissioner. (b) Any issuance considered as capital under subsection (a) of this section s…

§ 14105. Participation in public agencies A financial institution has the power to participate in a public agency created under the laws of this State or of the United States, the purpose of which is to afford advantages or safeguards to financial institutions, depositors, or inv…

§ 14106. Expanded powers of Vermont financial institutions In addition to all other powers permitted under these statutes, any Vermont financial institution shall have the powers conferred under federal law administered by the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller …

§ 14107. Investments (a) A Vermont financial institution may invest its assets prudently in accordance with the best judgment of its governing body in a manner consistent with this section. (b) A Vermont financial institution may not acquire more than five percent of the equity i…

§ 14108. Prohibited mergers and acquisitions (a) No depository institution may by merger, consolidation, or other form of acquisition come to hold in excess of 30 percent of the total time and demand deposits held in Vermont by depository institutions. For the purposes of this se…

§ 14109. Prohibited management interlocks A director or officer of a Vermont financial institution shall not at the same time be a director or officer of another financial institution engaged in the business of banking in the State of Vermont or a state contiguous to Vermont. The…

§ 14110. Duties of executive officers, directors, and persons who control principal equity interests in financial institutions; officers may not receive fees (a) All executive officers, directors, and holders of principal equity interest of a Vermont or state financial institutio…

§ 14201. Deposit powers (a) Applicability. This subchapter governs deposits or accounts in financial institutions. (b) General deposit powers. (1) A financial institution may receive money on deposit and may establish the terms and conditions of each deposit contract. A financial…

§ 14202. Payment of deposits to administrators from another state or country (a) When a deposit is made in a financial institution by a person residing in another state or country, the deposit, or any part thereof, with the interest thereon, may be paid to the administrator or ex…

§ 14203. Trust deposits; payment on death of trustee When a deposit is made in a financial institution by one or more persons in trust for another, the name and residence of the person for whom the deposit is made shall be disclosed, and the deposit shall be credited to the depos…

§ 14204. Joint deposits (a) Payment. When a deposit has been made in a financial institution in the names of two or more persons, payable to any one of them, or payable to the survivors or any one of the survivors, such deposit or any part thereof, or any interest or dividend the…

§ 14205. Payable on death accounts (a) A “payable-on-death account” is created by a deposit in a financial institution in the name of an account holder or several joint account holders with a designation that the account is payable on death to one or more payees, known as “P.O.D.…

§ 14206. Deposits of minors; exemption from trustee process (a) Payment. The governing body of a financial institution, in its discretion, may accept deposits from a minor and may pay to a minor such sum as is deposited to the credit of such person, and is due, as if such minor w…

§ 14207. Provisions when title to deposit is litigated (a) Multiple claims. In actions against a financial institution by one spouse to recover for monies deposited by the other spouse in the latter’s own name, the depositing spouse may be a witness. In actions against such finan…

§ 14208. Security for deposits No Vermont or state financial institution may pledge, hypothecate, or deliver any of its assets of any description whatsoever as security for a deposit of private funds, or for the purpose of indemnifying any person, as surety for the financial inst…

§ 14209. Examination of accounts Each Vermont financial institution shall annually cause a sampling of its loans and deposit accounts to be verified by the account holder. The verification shall be under the direction of an outside auditor or the internal auditor of the Vermont f…

§ 14210. Real estate trust and escrow (a) In accordance with its schedule for similar remittances, any financial institution in which a pooled real estate trust or escrow account has been established under 26 V.S.A. § 2214(c) shall remit the interest accumulated on the account to…

§ 14211. Claims not clearly consistent If any claim not clearly consistent with the terms of any applicable authority on file with a financial institution is made to any deposit, safe deposit box, property held in safekeeping, security, obligation, or other property in the financ…

§ 14212. Joint fiduciary accounts (a) Statement of purpose. The purpose of this section is to create a new form of joint financial account for which the account owner designates a fiduciary with authority to use monies in the account for the benefit and under the direction of the…

§ 14301. Loan authority (a) General loan authority. Unless otherwise prohibited by State law, a Vermont financial institution may make, sell, purchase, arrange, participate in, invest in, or otherwise deal in loans, derivative transactions, or extensions of credit for any lawful …

§ 14302. Real estate loans (a) Clear title. All loans secured by mortgages on real estate shall be supported by written evidence satisfactory to the financial institution that title to the security is marketable and the lien is valid and enforceable. A mortgage on lands subject t…

§ 14303. Bank credit cards (a) General authority. Any financial institution that is authorized to do a lending business in this State may issue bank credit cards. (b) No discrimination. No financial institution shall discriminate against any applicant for a bank credit card on th…

§ 14304. Card holder represented by legal counsel (a) A credit card company or its creditor or collection agency shall not contact a card holder regarding a debt, late fee, or other charge once informed that the card holder is disputing the debt, late fee, or other charge; is rep…

§ 14401. Types of trust functions (a) With the prior approval of its governing board, a financial institution may act alone or with others as: (1) fiduciary; (2) custodian of property; (3) agent or attorney in fact; (4) registrar or transfer agent of securities; (5) trustees unde…

§ 14402. National financial institutions; state financial institutions (a) To the same extent that the laws of the United States permit, a national financial institution located and doing business in this State may act, alone or with others, as specified in section 14401 this tit…

§ 14403. Approval of Commissioner No financial institution not otherwise expressly authorized by its respective supervisory agency under state or federal law may exercise the powers provided in this subchapter until it has applied for and obtained approval of the Commissioner to …