(a) Subject to any State Bank Department rule and consistent with any restrictions imposed by the Arkansas Banking Code of 1997, each state bank shall, unless it shall be determined to be unsafe and unsound by the Bank Commissioner, and without specific mention thereof in its articles of incorporation, have the following powers and be permitted, in addition to other powers conferred upon it by other provisions of law:
(1) To receive by any means money for deposit and to provide by its rules or by agreement for the terms of withdrawal and payment of interest thereon pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-201 et seq.;
(2) To receive by any means money for transmission to another person and to transmit money by any means to another person;
(3) To buy, sell, and exchange coin and bullion;
(4) To buy, sell, and exchange bonds and certificates of indebtedness issued or guaranteed by the United States, its agencies and instrumentalities thereof, the State of Arkansas or of any other state, or of any city, county, school district, or other municipal corporation, improvement district, public facilities board, or other agencies or instrumentalities of such state or states;
(5) To purchase and sell securities, other than bonds and certificates of indebtedness described in subdivision (a)(4) of this section, and stock without recourse, solely upon the order and for the account of customers and other persons, and in no case for its own account;
(6) To purchase, sell, and exchange for its own account securities pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-401;
(7) To lend money, either without security or upon the security that the bank may require, pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-501 et seq.;
(8) To issue capital notes, with or without conversion features, with the prior written approval of the commissioner, and to otherwise become indebted to other persons through other types of obligations, including purchase money obligations, leases, Federal Home Loan Bank and Federal Reserve Bank advances, federal funds transactions, and securities repurchase agreements, all without limitations on interest rates and term;
(9) To have such amounts of authorized but unissued stock as it may deem appropriate;
(10) To purchase insurance, including key-man insurance, and to establish employee and director benefit plans including, without limitation, stock options and stock purchase and compensation plans;
(11) To own and lease personal property acquired upon the specific request and for the use of a customer and to incur obligations incident thereto, the lease obligation to be subject to borrower loan limits and to a schedule of periodic regular rental payments that shall be consistent with a timely recovery by the bank of its cost for the leased property;
(12) To make contributions to or for the benefit of the following:
(A) The United States, any state, territory, or political subdivision thereof, the District of Columbia, or any possession of the United States, for exclusively public purposes;
(B) A corporation, foundation, trust, community chest, or other organization created or organized in the United States, or any state or territory, or the District of Columbia, or any possession of the United States, exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, veteran rehabilitation service, civic enterprise, literary or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, and no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation; or
(C) Other lawful expenditures, contributions, and donations, to the extent authorized, approved, or ratified by action of the board of directors of the bank, except as otherwise specifically provided or limited by its articles of incorporation, its bylaws, or by resolution adopted by its stockholders;
(13) To service loans made by it or by others, whether or not held by the bank;
(14) To warehouse or act as agent in warehousing mortgages and other loans;
(15) With the prior approval of the commissioner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the commissioner, to provide messenger service between the bank and its customers;
(16) To engage in any activities which are a part of the business of banking or incidental thereto by means of an operating subsidiary pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-601;
(17) To invest in bank service companies pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-603;
(18) [Repealed.]
(19) To invest in a community development company pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-605;
(20) To invest in small business investment companies and minority enterprise small business investment companies as defined by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority Small Business Act of 1989, § 15-5-701 et seq., pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-606;
(21) To invest in corporations organized under the Edge Act, pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-607;
(22) To operate a travel agency;
(23) To engage in leasing real property;
(24) To act as escrow agent and closing agent;
(25) To act as a fiscal or transfer agent, assignee, receiver, and depository;
(26) To act as an executor, administrator, trustee, or other fiduciary pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-701 et seq.;
(27) To guaranty signatures;
(28) To provide third-party payment services;
(29) To issue, advise, and confirm letters of credit;
(30) To act as an agent to collect checks, drafts, and other items of commercial paper, to become a member of a clearing house, and to grant security interests in its assets for its qualification therein;
(31) To receive property as custodian for safekeeping;
(32) To lease safe-deposit boxes pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-901 et seq.;
(33) To enter into agreements to provide for losses arising from the cancellation of outstanding loans upon the death of borrowers;
(34) Through a separate subsidiary, to act as agent in the sale of title insurance and perform title searches and other abstractor services;
(35) To invest in clearing corporations and banker's banks;
(36) To invest in bank premises real estate pursuant to the provisions of § 23-47-103; and
(37) To acquire, develop, and dispose of real estate through foreclosure or in lieu of foreclosure of debts previously contracted in the ordinary course of its banking business, including single-family lots and single-family residences consisting of one (1) through four (4) family units.
(b) In addition to the foregoing, a state bank may exercise any other powers which are incidental to the business of banking.
(c) In addition to the powers conferred upon state banks under this or any other law of this state, upon action of the commissioner authorizing state banks to undertake such activities, a state bank may engage in any banking activities in which state banks could engage were they acting as national banks at the time such authority is granted.
(d)
(1) If a state bank or bank holding company is located in a town with a population of fewer than two thousand five hundred (2,500) people according to the latest federal decennial census, the bank or bank holding company may acquire, purchase, or construct a dwelling for use as the residence of the bank's or bank holding company's chief executive officer as part of his or her compensation.
(2) The expenditure for the dwelling shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).