A. A trust company may establish its principal office in any county.
B. A trust company actively engaged in trust business may establish one or more branch offices subject to the restrictions in Subsection D of this section and after obtaining the approval of the director as provided in Subsection C of this section.
C. A trust company seeking to establish a branch office shall submit an application, together with an investigation fee of two hundred dollars ($200), to the director. After considering the financial condition of the trust company, the adequacy of its capital structure, its future earnings and prospects, the general character of its management and any other matter he deems relevant, the director may approve the application if he finds:
(1) that the establishment of the branch will meet the needs and promote the convenience of the community to be served; and
(2) that the probable volume of business and reasonable public demand in the community are sufficient to assure and maintain the solvency of the branch and the trust company.
D. Except as provided in Subsection G of this section, branch offices shall be operated as branches of and under the name of the parent trust company and under the control and direction of the board of directors and executive officers of the parent trust company.
E. The provisions of this section shall not apply to branch offices in existence on the effective date of this section.
F. For the purposes of this section, "branch office" means an office, other than a principal office, used for the conduct of trust business and includes any additional house, office, agency or place of business which is open to the public for the conduct of such business and further includes any office connected to the principal office by subterranean or overhead passageways through which trust company personnel may pass.
G. The furnishing of trust services by a trust company affiliate of a bank holding company in the building in which any banking subsidiary of the bank holding company has its principal office or a manned branch office shall not constitute the operation of a branch office as prohibited by this section. As used in this subsection:
(1) "banking subsidiary" means a bank eighty percent or more of the voting shares of which are owned by the bank holding company; and
(2) "affiliate", with respect to a bank holding company, means any company eighty percent or more of the voting shares of which are owned by the bank holding company.
H. Copies of all records of accounts may be maintained at the principal office of the trust company or may be maintained at a branch office of the trust company where the accounts are administered, if appropriate safety and security is provided.
I. Nonprofit corporations shall be exempt from the requirements of this section.
History: 1978 Comp., § 58-9-8.1, enacted by Laws 1979, ch. 190, § 5; 1984, ch. 63, § 2; 1987, ch. 82, § 1; 1991, ch. 250, § 4; 1997, ch. 160, § 1.
ANNOTATIONSThe 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, deleted "of the financial institutions division" in Subsections B and C, deleted Paragraph D(2) which read "located in the same county in which the principal office is located", and made related stylistic changes.
The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, substituted "approval of the director of the financial institutions division" for "director's approval" in Subsection B; added "of the financial institutions division" at the end of the first sentence in Subsection C; and added Subsection I.