(a) At any time after receiving a certificate of incorporation, a bank may apply to the department for a certificate of authority to engage in the banking business. Before receiving a certificate of authority, a bank may not perform an act other than to perfect its organization, obtain and equip a place of business, obtain subscriptions and payment for its shares, and otherwise prepare to do business. If a bank violates this subsection by transacting business before it receives a certificate of authority, the directors and officers who wilfully authorized or participated in the action are personally, jointly, and severally liable for the debts and liabilities of the bank incurred before the certificate of authority is issued.

(b) The department shall issue a certificate of authority to engage in the banking business to a proposed state bank if, upon review of the information required by this chapter, including the following, it approves the application:

(1) certification by an officer by affidavit that the capital and surplus required by the department have been fully paid in cash;

(2) a list of all shareholders, giving the name, address, and number of shares held by each;

(3) bylaws of the corporation;

(4) evidence satisfactory to the department that the bank has complied with all the requirements of this chapter and any conditions imposed by the department and has advised the department in writing of any changes that have occurred in the facts reflected in the material it filed under AS 06.05.344.

(c) If the rights conferred by a certificate of authority are not exercised within one year from the date of its issuance, the certificate lapses.

(d) Except as authorized under this section, a person may not

(1) engage in the business of receiving deposits, discounting evidences of indebtedness, or receiving money for transmission;

(2) represent that the person is a bank; or

(3) use any form of the word “bank” in the person's name unless the person is a state bank formed under this title or a bank formed under the authority of another state or an agency of the federal government, or unless it is clear that the use does not represent that the person is a bank; the prohibition in this paragraph does not apply to a food bank, blood bank, or similar organization that cannot readily be confused with a bank.

(e) A person prohibited by (d)(3) of this section from using any form of the word “bank” in its name may apply to the commissioner for authority to use a form of the word “bank” in its name.