(a) (1) (A) (i) Before any license is issued to any warehouseman, the warehouseman shall file with the Public Grain Warehouse Commissioner a surety bond executed by the public grain warehouseman as principal and by a corporate surety licensed to do business in this state as surety.

(ii) The bond shall run to the State of Arkansas and be for the benefit of all depositors or storers of grain, their legal representatives, attorneys, or assigns.

(B)

(i) No bond shall be accepted for the purposes of this subchapter until it has been approved by the commissioner.

(ii) The bond shall be conditioned upon the warehouseman delivering all stored grain or payment of the value thereof upon the surrender of the warehouse receipt.

(iii) The commissioner may require the increases in the amount of the bond, from time to time, as he or she may deem necessary for the protection of the storage receipt holders.

(2)

(A) The aggregate liability of the surety to all depositors or storers of grain shall not exceed the sum of the bond.

(B) The bond may be cancelled at any time by the surety by giving written notice to the commissioner of its intention to cancel the bond. All liability thereunder shall terminate thirty (30) days after the receipt of the notice by the commissioner, except that the notice shall not affect any claims arising under the bond, whether presented or not, before the effective date of the cancellation notice.

(b) In lieu of the bond required in subsection (a) of this section, an applicant for a license may be a self-insurer by posting with the commissioner cash or any combination of securities, the market value of which is readily ascertainable and, if negotiable, by delivery or assignment, of the kinds described in § 23-63-806, United States Government obligations, § 23-63-809, municipal or county utilities, § 23-63-813, international banks, and § 23-63-814, corporate bonds and debentures.