(a) The company must engage in the business of suretyship whether or not also making contracts in other classes of insurance, but shall not be engaged in any type or class of business not authorized by its charter or the laws of the State in which the company is incorporated. It must be the intention of the company to engage actively in the execution of surety bonds in favor of the United States.

(b) No bond is acceptable if it has been executed (signed and/or otherwise validated) by a company or its agent in a State where it has not obtained that State's license to do surety business. Although a company must be licensed in the State or other area in which it executes a bond, it need not be licensed in the State or other area in which the principal resides or where the contract is to be performed. The term other area includes the Canal Zone, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.