N.Y. Banking Law § 105: Branch offices; prohibition against doing business at unauthorized places

§ 105. Branch offices; prohibition against doing business at

unauthorized places. 1. (a) No bank or trust company or officer,

director, agent or employee thereof, shall transact any part of its

usual business of banking at any place other than its principal office,

except that a bank or trust company may open and occupy one or more

branch offices at any location in the state, provided: (i) that the

requirements of section twenty-nine of this chapter are met and (ii)

that, except for the city or village in which its principal office is

located, in no event shall a branch be opened and occupied pursuant to

this subdivision in a city or village with a population of fifty

thousand or less in which is already located the principal office of

another bank, trust company or national banking association, other than

a bank holding company, if such bank holding company is a banking

institution, or a banking subsidiary of a bank holding company (as such

terms "bank holding company", "banking institution" and "banking

subsidiary" are defined in section one hundred forty-one of this

chapter) except that the definition of "bank holding company" is

modified to change the phrase "a banking institution" wherever it

appears therein to "two or more banking institutions" and the definition

of "banking institution" is modified to add a national banking

association, the principal office of which institution is located in

this state, except, in the case of a conversion pursuant to the

provisions of this article, branch offices occupied immediately prior

thereto or except for the purpose of acquiring by merger, sale or

otherwise the business and property of a bank, trust company or national

banking association, whether in liquidation or doing business in the

usual course.

(b) An office of an affiliated bank at which the customers of a bank

or trust company may make deposits, renew time deposits, make

withdrawals, close loans, service loans, and receive payments on loans

and other obligations shall not be deemed a branch office of such bank

or trust company. For the purposes of this section, the term "affiliated

bank" means any bank, as such term is defined in section 3(a)(1) of the

Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(a)(1)), that is a

subsidiary of the same bank holding company, as that term is defined in

section 2 of the Bank Holding Company Act (12 U.S.C. 1841).

2. Hereafter before any branch or branches shall be opened and

occupied pursuant to subdivision one of this section the superintendent

shall have given his written approval as provided in article two of this

chapter.

3. (a) Any bank or trust company may with the written approval of the

superintendent, open and occupy a branch office or branch offices in one

or more places located without the state of New York, either in the

United States of America or in foreign countries.

(b) If any bank or trust company has opened and occupied a branch

office in a foreign country pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (a)

of this subdivision, it may, unless otherwise advised by the

superintendent, open and occupy an additional branch office or branch

offices in such country without having to apply for the approval of the

superintendent, provided that it gives the superintendent notice of at

least thirty days (or such shorter period as the superintendent in

individual cases may approve) before opening and occupying any such

additional branch office.

4. The term "village" as used in this section shall mean either an

incorporated or an unincorporated village.

5. (a) A bank or trust company may, if the merger or asset acquisition

is permitted by law, and if the merger or asset acquisition agreement so

provides, maintain as a branch office or branch offices or trust office

or trust offices, the place or places of business of any bank, trust

company, safe deposit company, national banking association,

out-of-state state bank or out-of-state trust company (as such terms are

defined in section two hundred twenty-two of this chapter), savings

bank, or savings and loan association, federal savings bank or federal

savings and loan association which it has received into itself by merger

or by acquisition of assets thereof pursuant to the provisions of this

chapter and, if the merger or acquisition agreement so provides, may

maintain, as its principal office rather than as a branch or trust

office, the principal office of such banking institution with which it

has merged or from which it has acquired assets (so long as such

principal office is located in this state), in which event the former

principal office of the receiving or acquiring bank or trust company may

be maintained as a branch office. A state bank or trust company

resulting from the conversion of a national banking association may, if

the conversion agreement so provides, maintain as a branch office or

branch offices or trust office or trust offices the place or places of

business of the national banking association. As used in this

subdivision, the term "place or places of business" shall include any

branch office or trust office of the banking institution that was

converted, merged or the assets of which were acquired which has been

approved pursuant to this chapter or federal law or the law of another

state, as the case may be, even if such branch office or trust office is

not in operation at the time said merger, asset acquisition or

conversion becomes effective.

(b) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in paragraph (a) of this

subdivision, any public accommodation office of a merging or acquired

banking organization or association, including any such office which has

been approved pursuant to section one hundred ninety-one of this chapter

but which is not in operation at the time said merger or acquisition

becomes effective, may be maintained by the receiving or acquiring bank

or trust company as a public accommodation office only.