(a) Any Tennessee-chartered bank may establish or otherwise acquire and maintain branch offices, branch banks and other branch facilities for the conduct of its banking business at any location in Tennessee and, except as may be prohibited by applicable law of other jurisdictions, at any other location.

(b) No branch, branch office or other facility at which deposits may be accepted shall be established until approved by the commissioner. Notwithstanding the above, the commissioner shall provide by regulation that a bank with a regulatory rating of 1 or 2 may, in lieu of an application, file a written notification for a branch office with the commissioner providing the information as the commissioner may require, including, but not limited to, proof of public notice. Unless objected to by the commissioner with a request for additional information, the notice shall be deemed sufficient and approved at the expiration of the public notice comment period as established by regulation. For an application from any other bank, the application shall be deemed to have been approved by the commissioner unless disapproved within ninety (90) calendar days after the submission of the application. In the event the notification or application to open a branch bank is disapproved and the bank feels aggrieved, the bank may petition for a review by certiorari as provided in title 27, chapter 9. For purposes of this subsection (b), “regulatory rating” means a confidential regulatory rating established, assigned or accepted, pursuant to agreement with a federal regulatory agency, by the department to assess the condition of the bank. The rating shall at all times remain confidential.

(c) Any other laws to the contrary notwithstanding, any branch bank presently located in any county may be incorporated as a bank, with all of the rights and powers granted to a bank under this title, and without restriction on the acquisition or ownership of its stock by a bank holding company, as defined in the Federal Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, that owns controlling interest in the principal bank. The commissioner shall grant a charter and forthwith issue a certificate of authority to the bank if the charter is in the form prescribed by § 45-2-204, the proposed officers and directors are qualified under § 45-2-205, the proposed capital structure is adequate under § 45-2-207 and the conditions of § 45-2-214 have been satisfied, other requirements of this title relative to the initial organization of a bank not being applicable.

(d)

(1) A branch office, branch bank, or other branch facility shall not be established or acquired in Tennessee by any bank, except:

(A) A Tennessee-charted bank;

(B) A national bank that has its main office located in this state;

(C) A bank that merges or consolidates with a bank described in subdivision (d)(1)(A) or (d)(1)(B); or

(D) An out-of-state bank that acquires a branch in accordance with § 45-2-1412.

(2) Subdivision (d)(1) shall not be construed to prohibit the surviving or resulting bank following a merger or consolidation referenced in subdivision (d)(1)(C) or the out-of-state bank acquiring a branch referenced in subdivision (d)(1)(D) from establishing and acquiring additional branch offices, branch banks, and other branch facilities in this state.

(e) No Tennessee bank or branch office or facility of a Tennessee bank that conducts the following transactions as an agent on behalf of another Tennessee bank, whether or not the Tennessee banks are affiliated through common control or otherwise, and no bank that is a subsidiary of a bank holding company or branch office or facility of a bank holding company that conducts the following transaction on behalf of another bank that is a subsidiary of the same bank holding company, shall be deemed a branch of the principal bank: receipt of deposits, renewal of time deposits, closing of loans, servicing of loans, and receipt of payments on loans and other obligations. The commissioner may establish by rule additional types of agency transactions, the performance of which shall not cause the agent bank to be deemed a branch of the principal bank. With respect to the agency relationships to which a Tennessee-chartered bank is to be a party, the commissioner may establish rules requiring receipt of notification, or approval, by the commissioner before the agency transactions are conducted. For the purposes of this subsection (e), “Tennessee bank” and “bank holding company” have the meanings set forth in § 45-2-1402.