13-5-425. Establishment of trust company branches; application; fee; activities; examination; criteria.

(a) With prior approval of the commissioner a supervised trust company may establish and operate one (1) or more branches at any location in this state.

(b) All applications for establishing and operating a branch shall be filed with the commissioner and be accompanied by a filing fee established by rule of the commissioner. The application shall be signed by the chief executive officer of the applicant supervised trust company and contain and be accompanied by the following information:

(i) Name and address of the applicant supervised trust company;

(ii) Exact location of the proposed branch;

(iii) Certification of publication of notice of the application at least one (1) time in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the proposed branch will be located;

(iv) Other information as the commissioner may require in order to determine if the requirements of this section are met.

(c) The commissioner shall issue a certificate of authority for the branch to the applicant supervised trust company within twenty (20) days after receipt of the complete application and fee unless he finds:

(i) Establishment or operation of the proposed branch would pose undue risk to the safety and soundness of the supervised trust company;

(ii) The name of the proposed branch does not reasonably identify the branch as a branch of the applicant supervised trust company or is likely to unduly confuse the public; or

(iii) The applicant supervised trust company has failed to substantially comply with applicable law governing its operation.

(d) The certificate of authority expires one (1) year after its issuance unless the branch has opened and business has begun in good faith.

(e) The application fee provided by subsection (b) of this section shall be deposited by the commissioner with the state treasurer and credited to the financial institutions administration account. Expenditures shall be made from the account by warrants drawn by the state auditor, upon vouchers issued and signed by the commissioner. Funds from the account shall be expended only to carry out the duties of the commissioner under this chapter. If the application expenses are less than the amount of the fee, the unexpended amount shall remain within the account.

(f) Every branch of a supervised trust company in this state shall be licensed by the commissioner before operating, engaging in or conducting trust company business.

(g) The commissioner shall fix the amount of the initial license fee and annual renewal fee by rule.

(h) An application for an initial branch license shall be submitted to the commissioner in writing in the form and containing the information required by the commissioner. Each licensed branch of a supervised trust company chartered under the laws of this state or of any other state is subject to compliance examinations as the commissioner deems necessary.

(j) The activities and operations of a branch are attributable to the applicant supervised trust company for purposes of determining qualification for authority to do business in this state.