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CHAP. 144

guardian, assignee or receiver, or in any other capacity, unless the court or officer approving such bond shall require it.

Sec. 62. Authority to engage in business of issuing surety bonds. No trust company shall engage in the business of acting as surety on official bonds or bonds for the performance of other obligations, or guaranteeing the fidelity of persons in positions of trust, private or public, and at the same time engage in the business of receiving on deposit money, coin, bank notes, evidences of debt, accounts of individuals, companies, corporations, municipalities or states, subject to check or payable on demand, other than deposits for the payment of bonds and interest thereon and for sinking funds. But nothing in this section shall be construed as enlarging any of the corporate powers of any trust company. No trust company organized under the laws of this state shall be authorized to guarantee the fidelity of persons in positions of trust, private or public, and to act as surety on official bonds and for the performance of other obligations, unless it shall have a capital stock, fully paid in, of not less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Sec. 63. Agreement of organization. Said agreement shall set forth that the subscribers thereto associate themselves with the intention of forming a corporation, and shall specifically state:

First, the name by which the corporation shall be known.

Second, the purpose for which it is formed.

Third, the city or town, which shall be within this state, where its business is to be transacted.

Fourth, the amount of its capital stock, and the number of shares into which the same is to be divided.

Each associate shall subscribe to the articles his name, residence, postoffice address and the number of shares of stock which he agrees to take.

Sec. 64. Notice of intention to organize. A notice of the intention of the subscribers to form such a trust company shall be given to the bank commissioner. A notice in such form as said commissioner shall approve shall be published at least once a week, for three successive weeks, in one or more newspapers designated by said commissioner and published in the county in which it is proposed to establish the company. Such notice shall specify the names of the proposed incorporators, the name of the corporation and the location of the same, as set forth in the above mentioned agreement of association. Within thirty days after the first publication of said notice the subscribers to said agreement shall apply to said commissioner for a certificate that public convenience and advantage will

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be promoted by the establishment of such trust company. If the commissioner refuses to issue such certificate, no further proceedings shall be had, but the application may be renewed after one year from the date of such refusal, without further notice or publication unless the commissioner shall order the same.

Sec. 65. First meeting of subscribers, how called; notice; election of officers and adoption of by-laws. The first meeting of the subscribers to the agreement of association shall be called by a notice signed either by that subscriber to the agreement who is designated therein for the purpose, or by a majority of the subscribers; and such notice shall state the time, place and purposes of the meeting. A copy of the notice shall, seven days at least before the day appointed for the meeting, be given to each subscriber or left at his residence or usual place of business, or deposited in the post-office, postage prepaid, and addressed to him at his residence or usual place of business, and another copy thereof and an affidavit of one of the signers that the notice has been duly served shall be recorded with the records of the corporation. If all the incorporators shall, in writing, endorsed upon the agreement of association, waive such notice and fix the time and place of the meeting, no notice shall be required. The subscribers to the agreement of association shall hold the franchise until the organization has been completed. At such first meeting, or at any adjournment thereof, the incorporators shall organize by the choice by ballot of a temporary clerk, by the adoption of by-laws and by the election in such manner as the by-laws may determine, of directors, a president, a clerk, and such other officers as the by-laws may prescribe. All the officers so elected shall be sworn to the faithful performance of their duties. The temporary clerk shall make and attest a record of the proceedings until the clerk has been chosen and sworn, including a record of such choice and qualification.

Sec. 66. Articles of agreement; shall be submitted to bank commissioner and attorney general, and filed in office of secretary of state; certificate issued; has force and effect of special charter; evidence of existence of corporation. The president, and a majority of the directors who are elected at such first meeting, shall make, sign and make oath to, in duplicate, articles setting forth:

a-A true copy of the agreement of association, the names of the subscribers thereto, and the name, residence and post-office address of each of the officers of the company;

b-The date of the first meeting and the successive adjournments thereof, if any.

One of such certificates shall be submitted to the bank commissioner

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and the other, together with the records of the proposed corporation, to the attorney general, who shall examine the same, and who may require such amendment thereof or such additional information as he may consider necessary. If he finds that the articles conform to the provisions of the preceding sections relative to the organization of the corporation and that the provisions of section sixty-four have been complied with, he shall so certify and endorse his approval thereon. Thereupon the articles shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state, who shall cause the same, with the endorsement thereon, to be recorded, and shall thereupon issue a certificate of incorporation in the following form:

STATE OF MAINE

Be it known that whereas (the names of the subscribers to the agreement of association) have associated themselves with the intention of forming a corporation under the name of (the name of the corporation), for the purpose (the purpose declared in the agreement of association), with a capital stock of (the amount fixed in the agreement of association), and have complied with the provisions of the statutes of this state in such case made and provided, as appears from the articles of organization of said corporation, duly approved by the attorney general, and recorded in this office; now, therefore, I (the name of the secretary), secretary of the State of Maine, do hereby certify that said (the names of the subscribers to the agreement of association), their associates and successors, are legally organized and established as, and are hereby made, an existing corporation under the name of (name of corporation), with the powers, rights and privileges, and subject to the limitations, duties and restrictions, which by law appertain thereto.

day of

in the

Witness my official signature hereunto subscribed, and the great seal of the State of Maine hereunto affixed, this year (the date of the filing of the articles of organization). The secretary shall sign the certificate of incorporation and cause the great seal of the state to be thereto affixed, and such certificate shall have the force and effect of a special charter. The existence of every corporation which is not created by special law shall begin upon the filing of the articles of organization in the office of the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall also cause a record of the certificate of incorporation to be made, and such certificate, or such record, or a certified copy thereof, shall be conclusive evidence of the existence of such corporation.

Sec. 67. Issue of shares; list of stockholders; examinations by bank commissioner. Such corporation shall not issue any shares of stock until the par value of such shares shall have been actually paid in in cash. When

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the whole capital stock has been issued, a complete list of the stockholders, with the name, residence and post-office address of each, and the number of shares held by each, shall be filed with the bank commissioner, which list shall be verified by the president and the treasurer of the corporation. Upon receipt of such statement said commissioner shall cause an examination to be made, and if, after such examination, it appears that the whole capital stock has been paid in in cash, and that all requirements of law have been complied with, said commissioner shall issue a certificate authorizing such corporation to begin the transaction of business. It shall be unlawful for any such corporation to begin the transaction of business until such a certificate has been granted.

Sec. 68. One-third of proposed capital stock shall be subscribed for. The written articles of association mentioned in section sixty-one shall not be regarded as sufficient unless they show that at least one-third of the proposed amount of capital stock has been subscribed for, and when filed with the bank commissioner they shall be accompanied by satisfactory evidence that the sum of fifty dollars has been paid to the treasurer of state to be credited to an account for expense of organizing trust companies, so much thereof to be paid out for expenses of the several departments as the governor and council shall find to have been actually incurred.

Sec. 69. Minimum amount of capital stock authorized to begin business; par value of shares. The minimum amount of paid-in capital stock on which a trust company may be authorized to begin business shall be twenty-five thousand dollars for a town or city of not more than five thousand inhabitants, fifty thousand dollars for a town or city having from five thousand to ten thousand inhabitants, seventy-five thousand dollars for a town or city having from ten thousand to twenty thousand inhabitants, one hundred thousand dollars for a town or city having from twenty thousand to thirty thousand inhabitants, and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a town or city of more than thirty thousand inhabitants. The bank commissioner, in ascertaining the number of inhabitants of such town or city for the purpose of determining the sufficiency of the capital stock, may require such proof in addition to the last preceding United States census as he may deem necessary; but no charter once granted shall ever be deemed void for any error in computing the population. The par value of the shares of stock shall be one hundred dollars each.

Sec. 70. Forfeiture of charter. Every such company shall forfeit its charter unless it shall actually commence to do business as a trust company within one year from the date thereof.

Sec. 71. May increase capital stock. Any company organized under sections sixty-one to seventy, both inclusive, or any company organized

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under special act of the legislature, may increase its capital stock from time to time to an amount not exceeding in the aggregate one million dollars, at any stockholders' meeting at which a majority of shares issued and outstanding is represented, notice of the intention so to do having been given in the call therefor. Provided, however, that before actually issuing such capital stock a certified copy of the vote authorizing the same shall be filed with the bank commissioner within ten days after its passage, and thereupon he shall issue his approval or disapproval of the action so taken. and shall thereupon issue a certificate allowing such increase, a copy of which shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state.

Sec. 72. Board of directors; executive committee; vacancies among directors; election of president, clerk and treasurer. All the corporate powers of any such company shall be exercised by a board of not less. than five directors, two-thirds of whom shall be residents of this state, whose number and term of office shall be determined, and who shall be elected by a vote of the stockholders at the first meeting held by the incorporators and at each annual meeting thereafter. Directors shall hold a regular meeting at least once each month. The stockholders at any annual meeting may elect from the full board of directors an executive committee of not less than five members, two-thirds of whom shall be residents of this state, and delegate to such committee the powers of the directors in regard to the ordinary operations of the business of the company; such powers to be exercised by such committee at all times when said board of directors are not in session, subject always, however, to any specific vote of said board of directors. All such committees shall keep full minutes of all business transacted by them and shall make such reports of their transactions at each monthly meeting of the board as said board or the bank commissioner may require. The directors shall be annually sworn to the proper discharge of their duties, and they shall hold office until others are elected and qualified in their stead. If any vacancy occurs in the board of directors or executive committee through death, resignation. or otherwise, the remaining directors may elect a person to fill the vacancy until the next annual meeting of the corporation. The oath of office of any director shall be taken within thirty days of his election, or his office shall become vacant. The clerk of such company shall, within ten days, notify such directors of their election and within thirty days shall publish the list of all persons who have taken the oath of office as directors. The removal of any director from this state shall immediately vacate his office if such removal leaves less than two-thirds of the membership resident in the state. The board of directors shall elect a president from its number, a clerk who shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, a treasurer and such other officers as they may deem necessary.

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