17:9A-445. Transaction of business by foreign bank at agency or branch office

64. a. A foreign bank which is licensed to establish an agency or branch office may transact banking business at that office, subject to the following:

(1) If the office is an agency, the bank shall not transact the business of accepting deposits, other than deposits of: (a) a foreign nation; (b) an agency or instrumentality of a foreign nation; or (c) a person which resides, is domiciled, and maintains its principal place of business in a foreign nation. For purposes of this paragraph "person" means any individual, proprietorship, joint venture, partnership, trust, business trust, syndicate, association, joint stock company, corporation, or any other organization or any branch or division thereof.

(2) If the office is a branch office, the bank shall not transact the business of accepting any deposits other than: (a) deposits of the kind described in paragraph (1) of this subsection a.; (b) deposits of $100,000 or more; (c) deposits of less then $100,000 which the branch is permitted to accept under applicable federal law; or (d) deposits the acceptance of which the commissioner determines by regulation or order does not constitute engaging in domestic retail deposit activities requiring deposit insurance protection.

(3) If the office is an agency or branch office or commercial lending company, the bank or lending company may maintain credit balances as those obligations are defined under the term "agency" in section 38 of P.L.1996, c.17 (C.17:9A-419).

(4) In any case, the bank or commercial lending company shall not transact any business which it is not authorized to transact or is prohibited from transacting under the laws of its domicile or which banks organized under the laws of this State are not authorized to transact or are prohibited from transacting.

b. No foreign bank which is licensed to establish an agency or branch office shall transact any trust business at that office unless the commissioner expressly authorizes the trust business by order upon a finding by the commissioner that the agency or branch is qualified to transact such business under standards similar to those required to obtain a charter for a trust company under the Banking Act.

c. All provisions of the Banking Act shall apply to any foreign bank or commercial lending company licensed to transact business in this State, unless the commissioner by regulation or order otherwise specifies.

d. (1) Any provisions of the Banking Act which are applicable to or with respect to foreign banks licensed to transact business in this State, whether by law, regulation or order, shall be applied with any changes in interpretation or application as may be necessary or appropriate.

(2) Without limiting the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection d., for purposes of any provision of the Banking Act, which are applicable to or with respect to a foreign bank or commercial lending company licensed to transact business in this State:

(a) "Approved by, or approval of, the board" means approved or ratified by the board of the bank, by a committee of the board authorized to exercise the powers of the board with respect to the particular matter, or by an officer of the bank who is assigned to the head office of the bank and who has authority over the bank's business in this State, including authority to approve or ratify the particular matter.

(b) "Principal office" means the primary office of the bank.

(c) "Shareholders' equity" means the shareholders' equity of the bank or, if the bank has no shareholders' equity, the closest equivalent account or accounts.

e. Whenever any provision of the Banking Act, which is applicable to or with respect to a foreign bank or commercial lending company licensed to transact business in this State limits the amount of any assets or liabilities of the bank, including, by way of example, the amount of borrowings of, obligations to, or investment of the bank or commercial lending company, for purposes of calculating the amount of such assets or liabilities, only assets or liabilities of the agencies or branch offices of the bank or commercial lending company shall be included, and the assets and liabilities of offices of the bank or commercial lending company outside this State shall be excluded.

L.1996,c.17,s.64.