Chapter 31A, Chapter 31A

Every financial institution failing to make and transmit to the commissioner any of the reports required by law or any rule and regulation or order thereunder in the form prescribed by the commissioner of banking, or failing to publish or distribute the reports, as so required, s…

(a) A West Virginia state agency office of a foreign bank established under this article may engage in the business of making loans and guaranteeing obligations for the financing of the international movement of goods and services and for all operational needs including working c…

This article shall apply to interstate acquisition of branches of any savings bank, savings and loan association or other thrift institution maintaining federal deposit insurance by a bank where the nonthrift bank survives the transaction and maintains the branches.

(a) No foreign bank shall establish or maintain a West Virginia state representative office unless the foreign bank is licensed by the commissioner to maintain a West Virginia representative office. (b) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section shall be deemed to prohibit a forei…

(a) A banking institution may not engage in business in this state at any place other than at its principal office in this state, at a branch bank in this state, at a customer bank communication terminal permitted by section twelve-b of this article or at any loan origination off…

(a) It is illegal for any banking institution or other depository institution to conduct its business in a facility that is a mobile unit not permanently attached to the real estate upon which it is located, except: (i) That such mobile units may be used as temporary banking quar…

(a) Any banking institution as defined in §31A-1-2 of this code, individually or jointly with one or more other banking institutions or other federally insured financial institutions having their principal offices in this state, or any combination thereof, may upon 10 days prior …

(a) Origination of loans by employees or agents of a banking institution at offices other than that banking institution's principal office or branch bank is permitted: Provided, That any such loans originating at said office are approved and made at the banking institution's prin…

(a) As an alternative to using the procedures established in subdivisions (g) through (j), inclusive, section twelve of this article, a banking institution desiring to establish a branch bank by de novo construction or lease may file a notice, containing information as prescribed…

(a) The application for a license to establish and maintain a West Virginia representative office shall be in writing under oath and shall be in such form and contain such information as the commissioner may require by regulation or order. The application shall be accompanied by …

No banking institution shall become or be accepted as surety on any bond or undertaking required by the laws or by the courts of this state or any other state or shall become surety or guarantor of any person for the discharge of any duty in any position or the performance of any…

(a) A foreign bank making an application for a license to establish and maintain a West Virginia representative office shall deliver to the commissioner two (or more as the commissioner may require in writing) duplicate originals of the foreign bank's application. (b) The commiss…

(a) A foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia representative office may, subject to such rules as the commissioner may prescribe, engage in the following activities: (1) Solicitation for loans and in connection therewith the assembling of credit i…

(a) Upon conviction for any misdemeanor offense under the provisions of this chapter, an offending financial institution shall be fined not more than $5,000 nor less than $50 and may, in the discretion of the court in consideration of the nature of the offense, be required to for…

Each foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia state agency or West Virginia representative office shall post its license in a conspicuous place at the office.

The willful failure to perform any duty required of any financial institution or individual pursuant to provisions of this chapter, or the willful doing of any act by any financial institution or individual forbidden by the provisions of this chapter, shall constitute a misdemean…

The board and the commissioner shall, upon request, be represented by the Attorney General and by his assistants in any hearings before them, or either of them, and in any actions, proceedings or appeals to which they, or either of them, may be a party and shall also be represent…

No license issued by the commissioner in accordance with this article shall be transferable or assignable.

(a) A foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia state agency or West Virginia representative office must secure an amended license if it changes its corporate name, changes corporate control, changes the duration of its corporate existence or desire…

Wherever in the Code of West Virginia, in any act, in general law or elsewhere in the law, reference is made to any section, any article, any chapter or any particular provision or term thereof of the Code of West Virginia which is repealed by the passage of this new chapter thir…

A foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia state agency or West Virginia representative office shall file with the commissioner a written notice and request an amended license under section eighteen of this article no later than fourteen calendar d…

(a) Subject to the prior approval of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions, any West Virginia state-chartered banking institution or any bank holding company headquartered in this state may, either through equity investment in other entities or through a wholly owned subsidi…

As used in this article, unless a different meaning is required by the context, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings: (a) "Bank" has the meaning set forth in 12 U.S.C. §1813(h): Provided, That the term "bank" shall not include any "foreign bank" as de…

As used in this article: “Applicable agency” means a department or agency of the state that by law regulates certain types of business activity in the state and persons engaged in such business activity, including the issuance of licenses or other types of authorization, which th…

(a) The Legislature finds that: (1) Banking institutions are required by law to demonstrate that their deposit facilities serve the convenience and needs of the communities in which they are chartered to do business; (2) The convenience and needs of communities include the need f…

This article sets forth the conditions under which a company may acquire a West Virginia state bank may form or acquire a West Virginia bank holding company, or may acquire an out-of-state bank or out-of-state bank holding company. This article is intended not to discriminate aga…

As used in this article, unless a different meaning is required by the context, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings: (a) "Acquisition of a branch" means the acquisition of a branch located in a host state, without either engaging in an "interstate me…

For purposes of this article: (a) The term "agency office" or "direct agency office" means an office of a foreign bank that is exercising the powers set forth and authorized by sections seven and eleven of this article. (b) The term "bank supervisory agency" means: (1) The office…

(a) Any person adversely affected by any decision of the commissioner made and entered after a hearing as provided in section one of this article shall be entitled to judicial review thereof in the manner provided in section four, article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.…

No foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia state agency or West Virginia representative office shall relocate any office unless the foreign bank provides prior written notice to the commissioner and the commissioner has approved such relocation in…

(a) A West Virginia state agency or West Virginia representative office shall be subject to examination by the commissioner at intervals and in a manner as he or she shall establish by rule or order. Unless otherwise provided by rule or order the examinations may be conducted ann…

(a) The commissioner shall have all of the powers granted to him or her by the laws of this state to the extent appropriate to enable him or her to supervise each West Virginia state agency or West Virginia representative office. (b) If, after notice and a hearing, the commission…

(a) Each foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia state agency or West Virginia representative office shall file with the commissioner such reports as and when the commissioner may require. (b) Each report filed with the commissioner under this art…

All reports of examinations and other records relating to the financial condition of any foreign bank, branch, agency office or representative office shall be confidential and subject to subpoena in the same manner as those examinations and records of other financial institutions…

Each foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia state agency or West Virginia representative office shall maintain or make available at any such office appropriate books, accounts and records in the English language reflecting: (i) All transactions e…

(a) Each foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia state agency in this state shall keep the assets of its business in this state separate and apart from the assets of its business outside this state as though the West Virginia office was conducted …

Each foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia state agency shall clearly and conspicuously disclose that moneys held by or credit balances in such office are not insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation.

(a) Each foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia state agency office shall keep on deposit with an unaffiliated West Virginia bank(s) as the foreign bank may designate and the commissioner may approve, the capital equivalency deposit required by s…

(a) No foreign bank which is licensed to establish and maintain a West Virginia state agency or West Virginia representative office shall close the office without filing an application with, and obtaining the prior approval of, the commissioner. The failure of an agency or repres…

Beginning on May 31, 1997, and with prior approval upon order of the board, a West Virginia state bank may establish, maintain and operate one or more branches in a state other than West Virginia pursuant to an interstate merger transaction in which the West Virginia state bank i…

No West Virginia state-chartered banking institution or bank holding company may invest or otherwise expend more, in the aggregate of the amount of its capital and surplus, on a consolidated basis, in the conduct of financially-related activities than would be allowed to a nation…

The term "application for a deposit facility" means an application to the commissioner or board for: (a) A charter for a state bank; (b) The relocation of the principal office or a branch of a state bank; (c) The establishment of a branch bank in an unbanked area requiring approv…

(a) There is created in the Division of Financial Institutions the Regulatory Sandbox Program. (b) In administering the regulatory sandbox program, the Division of Financial Institutions: (1) Shall consult with the West Virginia Development Office relating to the economic develop…

(a) The commissioner is authorized and empowered to issue such rules and orders to perform his or her duties and functions under this article and to administer and carry out the provisions and purposes of this article and to prevent evasions thereof. (b) It shall be required that…

(a) Except as otherwise expressly permitted by federal law, a company may not form a West Virginia bank holding company or acquire a West Virginia state bank or a bank holding company controlling a West Virginia state bank without the prior application and approval upon order of …

(a) Beginning on May 31, 1997, and pursuant to the procedures and standards established in either section twelve or section twelve-d, article eight of this chapter, any West Virginia state bank may establish and maintain a de novo branch or acquire a branch in a state other than …

(a) It shall be unlawful for an affiliate of any corporate financial institution or for an officer, director or employee of any corporate financial institution or affiliate thereof: (1) To solicit, accept or agree to accept, directly or indirectly, from any person other than such…

(a) The laws and rules of this state governing the acquisition or ownership of controlling or other interests in West Virginia banks or in out-of-state banks seeking to establish and maintain one or more interstate branches in this state shall not generally prohibit ownership of …

The commissioner of banking, pursuant to chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, shall promulgate rules governing the provision of financially-related products and services by West Virginia state-chartered banking institutions and by any bank holding company conducting business in th…

(a) A company that proposes to make an acquisition under this article shall: (1) File with the commissioner a copy of the application that such company has filed with the responsible federal bank supervisory agency, together with such additional information as the commissioner ma…