national bank, or of a bank or trust company doing business in the District of Columbia, or whenever, in the opinion of a Federal reserve agent, any director or officer of a State member bank in his district shall have continued to violate any law relating to such bank or trust company or shall have continued unsafe or unsound practices in conducting the business of such bank or trust company, after having been warned by the Comptroller of the Currency or the Federal reserve agent, as the case may be, to discontinue such violations of law or such unsafe or unsound practices, the Comptroller of the Currency or the Federal reserve agent, as the case may be, may certify the facts to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In any such case the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System may cause notice to be served upon such director or officer to appear before such Board to show cause why he should not be removed from office. A copy of such order shall be sent to each director of the bank affected, by registered mail. If after granting the accused director or officer a reasonable opportunity to be heard, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System finds that he has continued to violate any law relating to such bank or trust company or has continued unsafe or unsound practices in conducting the business of such bank or trust company after having been warned by the Comptroller of the Currency of the Federal reserve agent to discontinue such violation of law or such unsafe or unsound practices, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, in its discretion, may order that such director or officer be removed from office. A copy of such order shall be served upon such director or officer. A copy of such order shall also be served upon the bank of which he is a director or officer, whereupon such director or officer shall cease to be a director, or officer of such bank; Provided, That such order and the findings of fact upon which it is based shall not be made public or disclosed to anyone except the director or officer involved and the directors of the bank involved, otherwise than in connection with proceedings for a violation of this section. Any such director or officer removed from office as herein provided who thereafter participates in any man 17 U.S.C. 36. ner in the management of such bank shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both, in the discretion of the court. Person Engaged in 12 U.S.C. 78-No officer, director, or employee of any corporation or unincorporated association, no partner or employee of any partnership, and no individual, primarily engaged in the issue, flotation, underwriting, public sale, or distribution, at wholesale or retail, or through syndicate participation, of stocks, bonds, or other similar securities, shall serve the same time as an officer, director, or employee of any member bank except in limited classes of cases in which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System may allow such service by general regulations when in the judgement of the said Board it would not unduly influence the investment policies of such member bank or the advice it gives its customers regarding investments. Place of Business 12 U.S.C. 81 (R.S. 5190).-The general business of each national banking association shall be transacted in the place specified in its organization certificate and in the branch or branches, if any, established or maintained by it in accordance with the provisions of section 5155 of the Revised Statutes, as amended by this Act.1 Indebtedness of National Banks 12 U.S.C. 82 (R.S. 5202).-No national banking association shall at any time be indebted, or in any way liable, to an amount exceeding the amount of its capital stock at such time actually paid and remaining undiminished by losses or otherwise plus 50 percent of the amount of its unimpaired surplus fund, except on account of demands of the nature following: First. Notes of circulation. Second. Moneys deposited with or collected by the association. Third. Bills of exchange or drafts drawn against money actually on deposit to the credit of the association, or due thereto. Fourth. Liabilities to the stockholders of the association for dividends and reserve profits. Fifth. Liabilities incurred under the provisions of the Federal Reserve Act. Sixth. Liabilities incurred under the provisions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. Seventh. Liabilities created by the endorsement of accepted bills of exchange payable abroad actually owned by the endorsing bank and discounted at home or abroad. Eighth. Liabilities incurred under the provisions of section 202 of Title II of the Federal Farm Loan Act, approved July 17, 1916, as amended by the Agricultural Credits Act of 1923. Ninth. Liabilities incurred on account of loans made with the express approval of the Comptroller of the Currency under paragraph (9) of section 5200 of the Revised Statutes, as amended. Tenth. Liabilities incurred under the provisions of section 13b of the Federal Reserve Act. Purchase of Own Shares; 12 U.S.C. 83 (R.S. 5201).—No association shall make any loan or discount on the security of the shares of its own capital stock, nor be the purchaser or holder of any such shares, unless such security or purchase shall be necessary to prevent loss upon a debt previously contracted in good faith; and stock so purchased or acquired shall, within six months from the time of its purchase, be sold or disposed of at public or private sale; or, in default thereof, a receiver may be appointed to close up the business of the association, according to section fifty-two hundred and thirty-four.20 Lending Limits 12 U.S.C. 84 (R.S. 5200).-The total obligations to any national banking association of 1 12 U.S.C. 84(9). "The Small Business Investment Act of 1958 provided for the repeal of section 13b of the Federal Reserve Act, effective August 21, 1959. 2012 U.S.C. 192. any person, copartnership, association, or corporation shall at no time exceed 10 per centum of the amount of the capital stock of such association actually paid in and unimpaired and 10 per centum of its unimpaired surplus fund. The term "obligations" shall mean the direct liability of the maker or acceptor of paper discounted with or sold to such association and the liability of the endorser, drawer, or guarantor who obtains a loan from or discounts paper with or sells paper under his guaranty to such association and shall include in the case of obligations of a copartnership or association the obligations of the several members thereof and shall include in the case of obligations of a corporation all obligations of all subsidiaries thereof in which such corporation owns or controls a majority interest. Such limitation of 10 per centum shall be subject to the following exceptions: (1) Obligations in the form of drafts or bills of exchange drawn in good faith against actually existing values shall not be subject under this section to any limitation based upon such capital and surplus. (2) Obligations arising out of the discount of commercial or business paper actually owned by the person, copartnership, association, or corporation negotiating the same shall not be subject under this section to any limitation based upon such capital and surplus. (3) Obligations drawn in good faith against actually existing values and secured by goods or commodities in process of shipment shall not be subject under this section to any limitation based upon such capital and surplus. (4) Obligations as indorser or guarantor of notes, other than commercial or business paper excepted under (2) hereof, having a maturity of not more than six months, and owned by the person, corporation, association, or copartnership indorsing and negotiating the same, shall be subject under this section to a limitation of 15 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 10 per centum of such capital and surplus. (5) Obligations in the form of banker's acceptances of other banks of the kind described in section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act 21 shall not be subject under this section to any limitation based upon such capital and surplus. (6) Obligations of any person, copartnership, association, or corporation, in the form of notes or drafts secured by shipping documents, warehouse receipts, or other such documents transferring or securing title covering readily marketable nonperishable staples when such property is fully covered by insurance, if it is customary to insure such staples, shall be subject under this section to a limitation of 15 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 10 per centum of such acpital and surplus when the market value of such staples securing such obligation is not at any time less than 115 per centum of the face amount of such obligation, and to an additional increase of limitation of 5 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 25 per centum of such capital and surplus when the market value of such staples securing such additional obligation is not at any time less than 120 per centum of the face amount of such additional obligation, and to a further additional increase of limitation of 5 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 30 per centum of such capital and surplus when the market value of such staples securing such additional obligation is not at any time less than 125 per centum of the face amount of such additional obligation, and to a further additional increase of limitation of 5 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 35 per centum of such capital and surplus when the market value of such staples securing such additional obligation is not at any time less than 130 per centum of the face amount of such additional obligation, and to a further additional increase of limitation of 5 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 40 per centum of such capital and surplus when the market value of such staples securing such additional obligation is not at any time less than 135 per centum of the face amount of such additional obligation, and to a further additional increase of limitation of 5 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 45 per 21 12 U.S.C. 372. centum of such capital and surplus when the market value of such staples securing such additional obligation is not at any time less than 140 per centum of the face amount of such additional obligation, but this exception shall not apply to obligations of any one person, copartnership, association, or corporation arising from the same transactions and/or secured by the identical staples for more than ten months. Obligations of any person, copartnership, association, or corporation in the form of notes or drafts secured by shipping documents, warehouse receipts, or other such documents transferring or securing title covering refrigerated or frozen readily marketable staples when such property is fully covered by insurance, shall be subject under this section to a limitation of 15 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 10 percentum of such capital and surplus when the market value of such staples securing such obligation is not at any time less than 115 per centum of the face amount of such additional obligation, but this exception shall not apply to obligations of any one person, copartnership, association, or corporation arising from the same transactions and/or secured by the identical staples for more than six months. (7) Obligations of any person, copartnership, association, or corporation in the form of notes or drafts secured by shipping documents or instruments transferring or securing title covering livestock or giving a lien on livestock when the market value of the livestock securing the obligation is not at any time less than 115 per centum of the face amount of the notes covered by such documents shall be subject under this section to a limitation of 15 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 10 per centum of such capital and surplus. Obligations arising out of the discount by dealers in dairy cattle of paper given in payment for dairy cattle, which bear a full recourse endorsement or unconditional guarantee of the seller and are secured by the cattle being sold, shall be subject under this section to a limitation of 15 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 10 per centum of such capital and surplus. (8) Obligations of any person, copartnership, association, or corporation secured by not less than a like amount of bonds or notes of the United States issued since April 24, 1917, or certificates of indebtedness of the United States, treasury bills of the United States, or obligations fully guaranteed both as to principal and interest by the United States, shall (except to the extent permitted by rules and regulations prescribed by the Comptroller of the Currency, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury) be subject under this section to a limitation of 15 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 10 per centum of such capital and surplus. (9) Obligations representing loans to any national banking association or to any banking institution organized under the laws of any State, or to any receiver, conservator, or superintendent of banks, or to any other agent, in charge of the business and property of any such association or banking institution, when such loans are approved. by the Comptroller of the Currency, shall not be subject under this section to any limitation based upon such capital and surplus. (10) Obligations shall not be subject under this section to any limitation based upon such capital and surplus to the extent that such obligations are secured or covered by guaranties, or by commitments or agreements to take over or to purchase, made by any Federal Reserve bank or by the United States or any department, bureau, board, commission, or establishment of the United States, including any corporation wholly owned directly or indirectly by the United States: Provided, That such guaranties, agreements, or commitments are unconditional and must be performed by payment of cash or its equivalent within sixty days after demand. The Comptroller of the Currency is hereby authorized to define the terms herein used if and when he may deem it necessary. (11) Obligations of a local public agency (as defined in section 1460 (h) of Title 42) or of a public housing agency (as defined in the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended) which have a maturity of not more than eighteen months shall not be subject under this section to any limitation, if such obligations are secured by an agreement between the obligor agency and the Housing and Home Finance Administrator or the Public Housing Administration in which the agency agrees to borrow from the Administrator or Administration, and the Administrator or Administration agrees to lend to the agency, prior to the maturity of such obligations, monies in an amount which (together with any other monies irrevocably committed to the payment of interest on such obligations) will suffice to pay the principal of such obligations with interest to maturity, which monies under the terms of said agreement are required to be used for that purpose. (12) Obligations insured by the Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, as amended, or the Act of August 28, 1937, as amended (relating to the conservation of water resources), or sections 1471-1485 of Title 42, shall be subject under this section to a limitation of 15 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 10 per centum of such capital and surplus. (13) Obligations as endorser or guarantor of negotiable or non-negotiable installment consumer paper which carries a full recourse endorsement or unconditional guarantee by the person, copartnership, association, or corporation transferring the same, shall be subject under this section to a limitation of 15 per centum of such capital and surplus in addition to such 10 per centum of such capital and surplus: Provided, however, That if the bank's files or the knowledge of its officers of the financial condition of each maker of such obligations is reasonably adequate, and upon certification by an officer of the bank designated for that purpose by the board of directors of the bank, that the responsibility of each maker of such obligations has been evaluated and the bank is relying primarily upon each such maker for the payment of such obligations, the limitations of this section as to the obligations of each such maker shall be the sole applicable loan limitation: Provided further, That such certification shall be in writing and shall be retained as part of the records of such bank. Interest Charged 12 U.S.C. 85 (R.S. 5197).-Any association may take, receive, reserve, and charge on any loan or discount made, or upon any notes, bills of exchange, or other evidences of debt, interest at the rate allowed by the laws of the State, Territory, or District where the bank is located, or at a rate of 1 per centum in excess of the discount rate on ninety-day commercial paper in effect at the Federal reserve bank in the Federal reserve district where the bank is located, whichever may be the greater, and no more, except that where by the laws of any State a different rate is limited for banks organized under State laws, the rate so limited shall be allowed for associations organized or existing in any such State under this title. When no rate is fixed by the laws of the State, or Territory, or District, the bank may take, receive, reserve, or charge a rate not exceeding 7 per centum, or 1 per centum in excess of the discount rate on ninety-day commercial paper in effect at the Federal reserve bank in the Federal reserve district where the bank is located, whichever may be the greater, and such interest may be taken in advance, reckoning the days for which the note, bill, or other evidence of debt has to run. The maximum amount of interest or discount to be charged at a branch of an association located outside of the States of the United States and the District of Columbia shall be at the rate allowed by the laws of the country, territory, dependency, province, dominion, insular possession, or other political subdivision where the branch is located. And the purchase, discount, or sale of a bona fide bill of exchange, payable at another place than the place of such purchase, discount, or sale, at not more than the current rate of exchange for sight-drafts in addition to the interest, shall not be considered as taking or receiving a greater rate of interest. Usury 12 U.S.C. 86 (R.S. 5198).—The taking, receiving, reserving, or charging a rate of interest greater than is allowed by the preceding section, when knowingly done, shall be deemed a forfeiture of the entire interest which the note, bill, or other evidence of debt carries with it, or which has been agreed to be paid thereon. In case the greater rate of interest has been paid, the person by whom it has been paid, or his legal representatives, may recover back, in an action in the nature of an action of debt, twice the amount of the interest thus paid from the association taking or receiving the same; provided such action is commenced within two years from the time the usurious transaction occurred. Financial Agents of the Government; 12 U.S.C. 90 (R.S. 5153).—All national banking associations, designated for that purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be depositaries of public money, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary; and they may also be employed as financial agents of the Government; and they shall perform all such reasonable duties, as depositaries of public money and financial agents of the Government, as may be required of them. The Secretary of the Treasury shall require the associations thus designated to give satisfactory security, by the deposit of United States bonds and otherwise, for the safe-keeping and prompt payment of the public money deposited with them, and for the faithful performance of their duties as financial agents of the Government: Provided, That the Secretary shall, on or before the first of January of each year, make a public statement of the securities required during that year for such deposits. And every association so designated as receiver or depositary of the public money shall take and receive at par all of the national currency bills, by whatever association issued, which have been paid into the Government for internal revenue, or for loans or stocks: Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall distribute the deposits herein provided for, as far as practicable, equitably between the different States and sections. Any national banking association may, upon the deposit with it of any funds by any State or political subdivision thereof or any agency or other governmental instrumentality of one or more States or political subdivisions thereof, including any officer, employee, or agent thereof in his official capacity, give security for the safekeeping and prompt payment of the funds so deposited to the same extent and of the same kind as is authorized by the law of the State in which such association is located in the case of other banking institutions in the State. Transfers in Contemplation of Insolvency 12 U.S.C. 91 (R.S. 5242).—All transfers of the notes, bonds, bills of exchange, or other evidences of debt owing to any national banking association, or of deposits to its |