CHAPTER 127
RELATING TO BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 7, TITLE 5, DELAWARE CODE OF 1953, RELATING TO BRANCH OFFICES OF BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES, BY PROVIDING THAT UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS FOR THE OPENING OF A BRANCH OFFICE SHALL APPLY TO ALL BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES; REQUIRING THAT APPLICATIONS FOR THE OPENING OF A BRANCH OFFICE SHALL STATE THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE INTENDED BRANCH AND THE NECESSITY FOR ITS OPENING; LIMITING THE PERIOD OF VALIDITY OF A CERTIFICATE OF THE STATE BANK COMMISSIONER PERMITTING THE OPENING OF A BRANCH OFFICE.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware:
Section 1. § 770, Title 5, Delaware Code of 1953, is amended to read as follows:
§ 770. Branch office
(a) Any bank or trust company, if authorized by its charter, may open a branch office or place of business, or branch offices or places of business in this State, upon application submitted to and approved by the Board of Bank Incorporation and upon the issuance of a certificate of authority of the State Bank Commissioner. The application shall state the exact location of the intended branch office and the necessity for its opening and the Board shall inquire into the matter, and if it deems that the public convenience will be served thereby and that there is good and sufficient reason that the corporation should have the branch office, the Board shall issue its written permission for the opening of the branch office. No certificate of authority shall be issued by the Commissioner unless he shall be satisfied that the applicant has a paid-in capital stock of at least Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) for each office or place of business then established by the applicant in this State and for each branch sought to be established and a surplus of at least Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) for each office or place of business then established by the applicant in this State and for each branch sought to be established. Any certificate of authority issued by the Commissioner shall be void and of no effect at the expiration of six (6) months after date of issue, unless the branch is actually opened for business. Unavoidable delay in opening the branch, due to construction problems or controls, or other matters beyond the control* of the parent company, may be taken into consideration, and the Commissioner may extend the certificate for periods of thirty (30) days in the event of such circumstances.
A fee of Fifty Dollars ($50.00) for every such certificate shall be required by the Commissioner before issuing the same.
(b) Nothing in this section contained shall deny any bank or trust company the right to continue a branch office or branch offices if such branch office or branch offices shall have been actually established prior to the first day of January, 1934, aid business continuously conducted thereat since such establishment.
Approved June 11, 1953.