§412:5-204 Acceptances of drafts and bills of exchange. (a) A bank may accept drafts or bills of exchange drawn upon it without limitation in the character of acceptances it may make in financing credit transactions; provided that a bank's own eligible acceptances described in subsection (b) are subject to the limitations contained in this section in lieu of the separate and distinct limitations contained in section 412:5-302.

(b) A bank may accept the following as eligible acceptances:

(1) Drafts or bills of exchange drawn upon it having not more than six months sight to run, exclusive of days of grace, and which arise out of transactions involving the import or export of goods, transactions involving the domestic shipment of goods or transactions which are secured at the time of acceptance by a warehouse receipt or other document conveying or securing title covering readily marketable staples;

(2) Drafts or bills of exchange drawn upon it having not more than three months sight to run, exclusive of days of grace, drawn by banks in foreign countries for the purpose of furnishing dollar exchange, as required by the usage of trade in the respective countries. Provided that the drafts or bills of exchange shall be drawn under regulations prescribed by the Federal Reserve Board; and

(3) Drafts and bills of exchange in addition to those described in this section, which are of the kind described by section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act, and which may be eligible for discount under regulations prescribed from time to time by the Federal Reserve Board.

(c) No bank shall accept eligible drafts or bills of exchange, whether in a foreign or domestic transaction, for any one person, in an amount at any one time exceeding in the aggregate twenty per cent of its capital and surplus.

(d) No bank shall accept drafts or bills of exchange in an amount exceeding at any time in the aggregate one hundred and fifty per cent of its capital and surplus; provided that the commissioner may authorize a bank to accept drafts or bills of exchange in an amount not exceeding at any time in the aggregate two hundred per cent of its capital and surplus.

(e) With respect to a bank which issues an eligible acceptance, the limitations contained in this section shall not apply to that portion of the eligible acceptance sold under a participation agreement to another financial institution or to a discounted eligible acceptance that is no longer held by the bank.

(f) None of the limitations or restrictions in this section shall apply to drafts or bills of exchange secured by bonds or other securities issued by the United States government, by the State or by a municipality thereof, if the market value of the bonds or other securities exceeds at the time of acceptance by five per cent the amount of the drafts or bills of exchange.

(g) The purchase or discount of banker's acceptances issued by other banks which are of the kind described in section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act, or which are eligible for discount under regulations prescribed from time to time by the Federal Reserve Board, shall not be subject to any limitation based on capital and surplus. [L 1993, c 350, pt of §1]