(a) A Vermont financial institution, and a state financial institution with a branch in this State, shall keep those books, accounts, and records relating to all of its transactions that will enable the Commissioner to ensure full compliance with the laws of this State. Each such financial institution shall retain its business records for such periods as prescribed by the Commissioner by regulation.

(b) Any such financial institution may dispose of any record which has been retained for the period prescribed by or in accordance with the regulation for retention of records of its class, and thereafter shall be under no duty to produce the record in any action or proceeding.

(c) Records required to be preserved and retained by law or regulation may be maintained in paper, photograph, microprocess, magnetic, digital, mechanical, or electronic media, or in or by any other information storage device or process which forms a durable medium providing reasonable assurances against tampering and degradation of any reproduction of the original record, and which can be accurately transferred to paper in a legible written form within a reasonable time. Records maintained in a computer-based format shall be archival in nature only, so as to preclude the possibility of alteration of the content of the record by computer once the record has been transferred to that format. Any record reproduced from a record maintained in compliance with this subsection shall have the same force and effect as the original thereof and may be admitted in evidence equally with the original. (Added 1999, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2001.)