General Provisions Relating to Banks and Banking

Miss. Code Ann. tit. 81, ch. 5
in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-1 General regulations.

All banking corporations are prohibited, either through their officers or as a banking agency, from participating, directly or indirectly, in the operation of any underwriting syndicate which handles securities for resale. However, this inhibition shall not apply to bonds issued by federal, state, county or other governmental agencies. The executive officers of banking corporations now existing or hereafter organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi are prohibited from owning stock in private banking houses or other agencies engaged in the business of underwriting securities for resale. The Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance is authorized, empowered and directed to promulgate rules and regulations, relative to withdrawals of deposits from savings banks, trust companies and other banking institutions, and the commissioner may, in cases of emergency, declare bank holidays and do any and all things necessary to insure, protect and conserve the resources of such banks. All state banking corporations are prohibited from making loans to state, county, municipal and district governmental agencies, unless such loans are made in strict compliance with legal enactments and regulations which govern, and such banking corporations are further prohibited from transferring funds from one state, county, municipal or district account to another unless authorized by warrant issued by proper authority, and such banking corporations are prohibited from discounting state, county, municipal, district or other public certificates and warrants, but such certificates and warrants may be used as collateral to guarantee the payment of notes or other obligations. The board of directors of any banking corporation created under the laws of this state may, at its option, require any or all employees of such to file with the board of directors a sworn financial statement semiannually or more often if it so desires. Any bank may, at its option, pay all checks drawn on it with currency or valid exchange drawn on a bank in a reserve city not more than five hundred (500) miles distant from such bank; but each depositor is entitled to have his checks paid each day in currency to the total extent of ten percent (10%) of his deposit if it exceeds One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) and at least One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) each day if his balance is over One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), and may demand his entire balance in currency at any time if One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or less. All state banking corporations may purchase for the account of their customers bonds, stocks and other securities, and such banking corporations may charge for their service in connection with the handling of such transactions only actual expenses plus the usual broker’s fees allowed for similar service by national banks. Any state bank may purchase, lease or otherwise acquire automatic data processing computers and related machinery and equipment, and such bank may utilize and operate such computers, machinery and equipment in performing for itself, its customers or any other bank such services as may be desired, including, but not limited to, check and deposit sorting and posting, computation and posting of interest and other credits and charges, preparation and mailing of checks, statements, notices and similar items, or any other clerical, bookkeeping, accounting, statistical or similar functions performed by and for a bank. Corporations may be organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi for the purpose of owning and operating, by purchase, lease or otherwise, such computers, related machinery and equipment as aforesaid, and such corporations may perform for any bank those services as above mentioned; and stock of such corporations shall be legal investments for state banks to the same extent that stock of bank service corporations is eligible for acquisition by national banks under the provisions of the Bank Service Corporation Act, Public Law 87-856, 76 Stat. 1132. In addition to other powers, a state-chartered bank shall have and possess such of the rights, powers, privileges, immunities, duties and obligations of a national bank having its principal place of business in this state as may be prescribed by the State Board of Banking Review by general regulation under the circumstances and conditions set out therein. In the event of a conflict between the provisions of this subsection (9) and the provisions of any other act or acts, directly or indirectly, governing or regulating the activities of state-chartered banks, the provisions of this subsection (9) shall control, and insurance activities of all banks, their subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, officers and employees doing business in this state shall be governed by the provisions of Title 83, Mississippi Code of 1972, only to the extent that Title 83, Mississippi Code of 1972, applies to national banks in Mississippi. The purpose of this subsection (10) is to provide for parity among Mississippi chartered or domiciled banks extending open-end credit in this state, as well as to promote the retention of existing financial services within the state by encouraging Mississippi chartered or domiciled banks to continue their open-end credit operations in this state, rather than relocating those operations to other states with interest rates, fees and credit terms that may not be available under Mississippi law and exporting such interest rates, fees and credit terms back to Mississippi under the most favored lender doctrine of federal law. For the purpose of this subsection, “open-end credit account” means an arrangement between a creditor and a customer in which: The creditor permits the customer to obtain credit advances on a pre-authorized basis; The creditor reasonably contemplates repeated transactions; The creditor assesses interest on the outstanding unpaid balance of the customer’s account; or The amount of credit that may be extended to the customer, up to any limit set by the creditor, is made available to the extent that any unpaid balance is repaid. A Mississippi chartered or domiciled bank that seeks to use the provisions of this subsection shall set forth in the records of the bank the rates and fees to be charged, the state where the rates and fees are permissible and the identity of one or more of the financial institutions. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, Mississippi chartered or domiciled banks offering open-end credit may assess finance charges, credit service charges and fees and charges that are material to the determination of the interest rate in connection with open-end accounts at rates and amounts that are equal to or are less than the amounts that financial institutions domiciled in other states are permitted to impose and collect when extending credit to Mississippi customers as a result of the most favored lender doctrine of federal law. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, for purposes of this subsection and Title 12, Sections 85, 1831d and 1730g of the United States Code, as applicable to the exportation of interest rates and any fees and charges that are material to their determination, any interest rates, finance charges, credit service charges and other fees and charges, in amount, as well as manner and method of computation, imposed by Mississippi chartered or domiciled banks under this subsection shall be authorized by Mississippi law. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any interest, finance charges, credit service charges or other fees or charges that are adopted from another state by a Mississippi chartered or domiciled bank, including those that are otherwise permissible in an amount under Mississippi law, may be assessed, accrued, earned or changed in the same manner or method as permitted under the law of the state from which they have been adopted, regardless of whether such manner or method is material to the determination of the interest rate under the law of that state. For purposes of this subsection, Mississippi chartered or domiciled banks may impose interest, finance charges, credit service charges or other fees and charges from one or more open-end credit accounts offered by financial institutions in other states in connection with a single open-end credit account.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-2 Private corporation laws; application to state banks.

All the provisions of law relating to private corporations operating in this state which are not inconsistent with this chapter or Chapters 1 and 3 of Title 81, Mississippi Code of 1972, or with the proper business of depository institutions, shall be applicable to all state banks.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-3 Bank not to permit use of its name.

It shall be unlawful for any bank or corporation liable to taxation on its capital stock to permit any person to use its name in taking promissory notes, mortgages or deeds or trust, or to permit such instruments to indicate on their face that they are payable to such bank or corporation when the money to secure which such instruments are taken is not actually advanced or is not intended to be advanced by such bank or corporation, and it shall be unlawful for any person to use the name of such bank or corporation in making loans of money. Any such bank or corporation or individual violating the provisions of this section shall be liable to a penalty of twenty-five per cent of the amount of such loan, to be recovered by the state.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-5 Local and regional banks for farm loans authorized.

Local and regional banks for the purpose of making and floating loans upon farms in the State of Mississippi may be established under any legislation enacted or to be enacted by Congress and in such manner as may be provided by Congress and any bonds representing loans on farms and bearing a rate of interest of six per cent or less per annum, shall be exempt from all state and other taxation.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-7 Preservation of old records.

Each bank shall retain permanently the minute books of meetings of its stockholders and directors, its capital stock ledger and capital stock certificate ledger or stubs, its general ledger, its daily statements of condition, its general journal, its investment ledger, its copies of bank examination reports, and all ledger sheets showing unpaid balances in favor of depositors. The Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance shall from time to time prescribe by order and so notify each bank, a classified list of such other records which shall be preserved and the length of time therefor. Actions at law and administrative proceedings in which the production of bank records might be necessary or desirable. State and federal statutes of limitation applicable to such actions or proceedings. The availability of information contained in bank records from other sources. Such other matters as the commissioner shall deem pertinent in order that his regulations will require banks to retain their records for as short a period as is commensurate with the interests of bank customers and shareholders and of the people of this state in having bank records available. Prior to issuing any such regulation, the commissioner shall consider: Any state bank may dispose of any record which has been retained for the period prescribed by or in accordance with the terms of this section for retention of records of its class, and shall thereafter be under no duty to produce such record in any action or proceeding. Any state bank may cause any or all records at any time in its custody to be reproduced in a format of storage commonly used, whether electronic, imaged, magnetic, microphotographic, or otherwise, and any reproduction so made shall have the same force and effect as the original thereof and be admitted in evidence equally with the original. To the extent that they are not in contravention of any law of the United States, the provisions of this section shall apply to all banks doing business in this state. No liability shall accrue against any bank destroying any records held for the period of time as provided in subsection (1) of this section, and in any cause or proceeding in which any such records or files may be called in question or be demanded of the bank or any officer or employee thereof, a showing that such records or files have been destroyed in accordance with the terms of this section shall be sufficient reason for the failure to produce them.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-9 Banks shall become members of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

All banking corporations organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi shall become members of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other similar agency created by the laws of the United States to insure or guarantee deposits in banks. Such banks are empowered to enter into such contracts, incur such obligations and generally to do and perform all such acts and things as may be necessary or appropriate in order to take advantage of all memberships, grants, rights, or privileges which may at any time be available to banking institutions or their depositors, creditors, or stockholders by virtue of the act of Congress, and amendments thereto, providing for the establishment of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the insurance of deposits in banks, or any other act, resolution or amendment passed by Congress to aid, regulate or safeguard banking institutions and their depositors, including any substitutions therefor; and banks are authorized to subscribe for and acquire any stock, debentures, bonds or other types of securities of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-11 State banks may become members of Federal Reserve Bank.

Any bank or trust company incorporated under the laws of Mississippi shall have power to subscribe to the capital stock and become a member of a Federal Reserve bank created and organized under the act of congress of the United States approved December 23, 1913, and known as the Federal Reserve Act and its amendments.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-13 Federal Reserve Act requirements must be observed.

Any bank or trust company, incorporated under the laws of Mississippi, which shall become a member of a Federal Reserve bank, shall comply with the reserve requirements of the Federal Reserve Act and its amendments, and the compliance of such bank or trust company therewith shall be in lieu of, and shall relieve such bank or trust company from, compliance with the provisions of the laws of this state relating to the maintenance of reserves.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-15 Officers and employees of banks to furnish fidelity bond; insurance.

Every active officer and employee of any bank or trust company in this state shall furnish a fidelity bond to the bank by which he is employed for the faithful performance of his duties, executed by some surety company authorized to do business in the State of Mississippi, as surety. The conditions of such bond, whether the instrument so describes the conditions or not, shall be that the principal shall protect the obligee against any loss or liability that the obligee may suffer or incur by reason of the acts of dishonesty of the principal or by reason of the violation of any of the provisions of the banking laws of Mississippi. The amount of such bond shall be fixed by the board of directors, subject, however, to approval of the state comptroller and the same shall be inspected upon the examination of the bank or trust company. Every banking corporation shall provide adequate insurance protection and indemnity against robbery and burglary and other similar insurable losses. Whenever any bank refuses or fails to comply with this requirement the state comptroller may contract for such protection and indemnity and add the cost thereof to the assessment otherwise payable by such bank for the support of the department of bank supervision.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-17 Bank stock; transfer and use as collateral.

The shares of stock of banks shall be deemed personal property, and shall be transferred on the books of the bank in such manner as the by-laws thereof shall direct, and as required by law. But no bank shall accept as collateral, or be the purchaser of, its own stock, except in cases where the taking of such collateral, or such purchase, shall be necessary to prevent loss upon a debt previously contracted in good faith, and in such cases, unless full payment of such debt is made, such stock shall be sold by the bank within twelve months from the date it was acquired.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-19 Stock; record of transfer of to be kept.

A book shall be provided and kept by every bank, in which shall be entered the names and residences of the stockholders thereof, the number of shares held by each, the time when such person became a stockholder, and also all transfers of stock, stating the time when made, the number of shares and by whom transferred. In all actions, suits and proceedings, such book shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-21 Stock of other banks not to be owned.

No part of the stock of any bank except regional reserve banks shall be owned by a state bank. In cases where such stock is taken as collateral and the purchase thereof shall be necessary to prevent loss upon a debt previously contracted in good faith, then in such cases such stock shall be sold by the bank within twelve months from the time it was acquired, unless the consent of the state comptroller is obtained in writing extending such period. A violation of this section by any bank shall subject it to liquidation and forfeiture of charter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-23 Preferred stock; issuance authorized.

Banks may, with the approval of the state comptroller, and by a vote of stockholders owning a majority of the stock of such bank, upon not less than five (5) days’ notice, given by registered mail, pursuant to action taken by their boards of directors, issue preferred stock of one or more classes in such amount and with such par value as shall be approved by the said comptroller, and may make such amendments to their charters as may be necessary for this purpose; but, in the case of a newly organized bank which has not yet issued common stock, the requirement of notice to and vote of stockholders shall not apply. The holders of such preferred stock shall be entitled to receive such cumulative dividends at a stipulated rate and shall have such voting and conversion rights and such control of management, and such stock shall be subject to retirement in such manner and upon such conditions as may be provided in the charter, with the approval of the state comptroller. The holders of such preferred stock shall not be held individually responsible as such holders for any debts, contracts or engagements of such bank, and shall not be liable for assessments to restore impairments in the capital of such bank as provided by law with reference to the holders of common stock. Preferred stock issued by any bank in this state shall be exempt from all state, county, municipal, levee district, and other ad valorem taxes so long as the same shall be held by an agency of the federal government. The acts of any board of directors of any banking corporation organized and operating under the laws of the State of Mississippi, insofar as such acts pertain to the issuance of preferred stock which may have heretofore been issued, are hereby in all particulars validated. No dividend shall be declared or paid on common stock until the cumulated dividends on the preferred stock shall have been paid in full; and, if the corporation is placed in either voluntary or involuntary liquidation, no payment shall be made to the holders of the common stock until the owners of the preferred stock shall have been paid in full the par value of such preferred stock plus all accumulated dividends.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-25 Investments in stock of small business investment companies.

Shares of stock issued by small business investment companies, incorporated in this state and licensed under the provisions of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, Public Law 699, 85th Congress, and any amendments thereto, shall be legal investments for state chartered banks and trust companies, to the same extent that shares of small business investment companies are eligible for purchase by national banks under the provisions of said Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and any amendments thereto.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-27 Liability of stockholders.

The stockholders of every bank shall be individually liable, actually and ratably, and not for one another, for the benefit of the depositors in said bank at the amount of their stock at the par value thereof, and in addition to said stock. However, persons holding stock as executors, administrators, guardians or trustees shall not be personally liable as stockholders, but the assets and funds in their hands constituting the trust shall be liable to the same extent as the testator, intestate, ward, or person interested in such trust fund would be, if living or competent to act. Persons holding stock as collateral security shall not be personally liable as stockholders, but the person pledging such stock shall be deemed the stockholder and liable under this section. Such double liability may be enforced in a suit at law or in equity by the receiver of any bank in process of liquidation. Such suit, however, shall be brought within six years from the date the bank went into liquidation and not thereafter. Such double liability shall not apply, however, to stock in any bank organized, after April 2, 1934, nor to stock in any bank open for business on April 2, 1934, provided such bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or any other similar agency created by the laws of the United States.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-28 Bank holding companies; definitions; control of banks.

As used in this section, unless the context clearly requires otherwise: “Bank” means any company that accepts deposits in Mississippi that are insured under the provisions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, 12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq., as amended; provided, however, that the term “bank” shall not include a company engaged solely in the trust business, all or substantially all of the deposits of which are in trust funds and are received in a bona fide fiduciary capacity. “Bank holding company” means any company which is a bank holding company under the provisions of the Federal Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, 12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq., as amended. “Company” has the meaning assigned in Section 2(b) of the Federal Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, 12 U.S.C. 1841(b), as amended. “Control” has the meaning assigned in Sections 2(a)(2) and (3) of the Federal Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, 12 U.S.C. 1841(a)(2) and (3), as amended, except that the reference therein to “the board” shall be deemed to refer to the Mississippi Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance. No bank holding company shall control a bank unless the bank is a bank as defined in Section 2(c) of the Federal Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, 12 U.S.C. 1841(c), as amended. No company that is not a bank holding company shall control a bank. The Mississippi Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance shall have the power to enforce the prohibitions of this section by seeking to enjoin any violation, by issuing cease and desist orders, by imposing administrative fines or penalties, and by any other remedies that are provided by law.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-29 Corporations may be formed to purchase, hold and own bank assets.

Corporations may be formed to purchase, hold and own bank assets. By and with the consent and approval of the Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance, corporations may be formed in this state for the purpose of purchasing, holding, owning, dealing in, lending on and borrowing on assets of banks, either open or in liquidation. From and after July 1, 2014, any proposed transfer of bank assets to be purchased, held or owned by a corporation authorized by this section shall be subject to the prior consent and approval of the commissioner. By and with the consent and approval of the commissioner, banks and receivers of banks may purchase any stock issued by such corporations, which shall have all the general corporate powers of corporations created under the general corporation laws of this state. By and with the consent and approval of the commissioner, banks may purchase and deal in any obligations of indebtedness issued by such corporations. In addition to general power to issue stock and borrow money, such corporation shall have specific power to issue stocks, common or preferred, to all agencies of the federal government, and to borrow money from and pledge assets to all such agencies. The commissioner shall have general supervision of the organization, operation and business of such corporation, and may issue and enforce regulations with reference thereto. The name of all such corporations shall include the words “bank securities corporation.”

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-31 Voting trusts prohibited.

The transfer of any part of the stock of a state bank to trustees solely or primarily that they may vote the same at annual elections and stockholders’ meetings – “voting trusts” as they are generally known – is expressly prohibited. A violation of this section by any bank or banks shall constitute a breach of law, and subject any such bank or banks to liquidation and forfeiture of their respective charters; provided, however, that this section shall not apply to any stock owned by an agency of the federal government.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-33 Powers in regard to trusts.

Banks may accept and execute all such trusts and perform such duties of every description as may be committed to them by any person or corporation or that may be committed or transferred to them by order of any court of record. They may receive money in trust, take and accept by grant, assignment, transfer, devise or bequest, and hold any real or personal estate or trusts created according to the laws of this or any other state or of the United States, and execute those legal trusts in regard to the same, on such terms as may be directed or agreed upon. They may act as agent for the investment of money or the management of property for other persons, and as agent for persons and corporations for the purpose of issuing, registering, transferring or countersigning the certificates of stock, bonds or other evidences of debt of any corporation, association, municipality, state, county or public authority on such terms as may be agreed upon. They also may act as guardian for any minor or person with mental illness under the appointment of any court of record having jurisdiction of the person or estate of the minor or person with mental illness and may act as administrator or executor of the estate of any deceased person. They may act as agent or attorney in fact and as commissioner for the sale of property, both real and personal, and may act as assignee or receiver, or as trustee in mortgages or bond issues, or in any other fiduciary capacity authorized by law. They may accept trust funds or other property upon specially agreed terms and pay or deliver the same to the owners, beneficiaries or others, as the case may be, when and as the same should be paid or delivered according to the terms of the trust agreement under which it is held. Whenever under the laws of this or any other state or under the rule or order of any court, the execution of a bond for the protection of a private or court trust is required, a trust company shall be authorized to execute the bond for the protection of any trust or trust estate being administered by it. Banking corporations created, organized and doing business under the laws of the State of Mississippi may exercise, without amendment of their charters, and under their charter authority to engage in the general business of banking, all or any of the foregoing powers. However, before any bank whose charter merely authorizes the exercise of general banking functions may exercise those powers, the previous written consent of the Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance shall be obtained. Banks exercising any or all of those powers shall segregate all assets held in any fiduciary capacity from the general assets of the bank and shall keep a separate set of books and records showing in proper detail all transactions engaged in under the authority of this section or under the authority granted to them in their charter or otherwise. Those books and records shall be inspected and examined by the state bank examiners at each and every examination of the bank. No bank shall receive in its trust department deposits of current funds subject to check or the deposit of checks, drafts, bills of exchange or other items for collection or exchange purposes. Funds deposited or held in trust by the bank awaiting investment or distribution shall be carried in a separate account and shall not be used by the bank in the conduct of its business, unless it first sets aside in the trust department United States bonds or bonds of the State of Mississippi or any subdivision of the state, the market value of which shall at all times be not less than ten percent (10%) in excess of the total funds so held, exclusive of the portion of funds insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In the event of the failure or liquidation of the bank, the owners of the funds held in trust for investment or distribution shall have a prior lien on the bonds or other securities so set apart in addition to their claim against the assets of the bank. In any case in which the laws of this state require that one acting as trustee, executor, administrator or in any fiduciary capacity must take an oath or make an affidavit, the president, vice president, cashier or trust officer of a bank may take the necessary oath or execute the necessary affidavit. In making investments of trust funds, it shall be unlawful for any bank to purchase securities from itself or to purchase securities in which it may be interested, directly or indirectly. However, any bank, including a national bank, authorized to do business in this state in a fiduciary capacity may, unless prohibited or otherwise limited by the instrument governing the fiduciary relationship, in the exercise of its investment discretion or at the direction of another person authorized to direct the investment of funds held by the bank as fiduciary, invest and reinvest in the securities of, or other interests in, any open-end or closed-end management type investment company or investment trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, 15 USCS Section 80a-1, et seq., as amended, notwithstanding that the banking institution or affiliate of the banking institution provides services to the investment company or investment trust, such as that of an investment advisor, custodian, transfer agent, registrar, sponsor, distributor, manager or otherwise, and receives reasonable remuneration for those services, so long as the total compensation paid by the trust or custodial estate as trustee’s fees and mutual fund fees is reasonable, taking into account the nature and extent of the trustee’s duties, the nature and extent of the services provided to the investment company or investment trust, and the total compensation, costs and fees that would otherwise be paid, directly or indirectly, by the trust or custodial estate if the investment were made in an investment company or investment trust for which the bank or its affiliates provided no services. With respect to any funds so invested, the banking institution shall make available by statement, prospectus or otherwise to all current income beneficiaries of an account the basis, expressed as a percentage of asset value or otherwise, upon which the remuneration is calculated. No bank shall lend to any officer, director or employee of the bank any funds held in trust by it, and any officer, director or employee making a loan, or to whom such a loan is made, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, may be fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or imprisoned in the State Penitentiary for not more than five (5) years, or by both that fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-34 Accounts of administrators, executors, guardians, trustees, and other fiduciaries.

Any bank, including a national bank, may accept accounts in the name of any administrator, executor, guardian, trustee or other fiduciary in trust for a named beneficiary or beneficiaries including the authority to exercise all rights and powers granted to a fiduciary under the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act created under Chapter 23, Title 91. Any such fiduciary shall have the power to make payments upon and to withdraw any such account, in whole or in part. The withdrawal value of any such account or other rights relating thereto may be paid or delivered, in whole or in part, to such fiduciary, without regard to any notice to the contrary, as long as such fiduciary is living. The payment or delivery to any such fiduciary or a receipt of acquittance signed by any such fiduciary to whom any such payment or any such delivery of rights is made shall be valid and sufficient release and discharge of any bank for the payment or delivery so made. Whenever a person holding an account in a fiduciary capacity dies, and no written notice of the revocation or termination of the trust relationship has been given to a bank and the bank has no notice of any other disposition of the trust estate, the withdrawal value of such account or other rights relating thereto may, at the option of a bank, be paid or delivered, in whole or in part, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries of such trust. Whenever an account shall be opened by any person describing himself in opening such account as trustee for another, and there is no other or further notice of the existence and terms of a legal and valid trust, then such description shall be given in writing to such bank. In the event of the death of the person so described as trustee, the withdrawal value of such account or any part thereof may be paid to the person for whom the account was thus stated to have been opened, and such account and all additions thereto shall be the property of such person, unless prior to payment the trust agreement is presented to the bank showing a contrary interest. When made in accord with this section, the payment or delivery to any such beneficiary, beneficiaries or designated person, or a receipt or acquittance signed by any such beneficiary, beneficiaries or designated person for any such payment or delivery, shall be valid and sufficient release and discharge of a bank for the payment or delivery so made. Trust accounts permitted by this section shall not be required to be acknowledged and recorded. When an account is opened in a form described in this section, the right set forth in Section 81-5-62 shall apply. No bank paying any beneficiary in accordance with the provisions of this section shall thereby be liable for any estate, inheritance or succession taxes which may be due this state. The term “accounts” or “account” as used in this section shall include, but not be limited to, any form of deposit or account, such as a savings account, checking account, time deposit, demand deposit or certificate of deposit, whether negotiable, nonnegotiable or otherwise.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-35 State and national banks acting in fiduciary capacity not required to file bond; exception.

No state or national bank domiciled in this state and duly authorized by law to act in a fiduciary capacity shall be required to make or file any bond or other security for the faithful performance of its duty when acting as executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, trustee, or in any other fiduciary capacity, unless the instrument creating any such trust or the court having jurisdiction thereof shall specifically direct that such bond or other security shall be given for the performance of such trust and shall fix the amount thereof. The chancery court or chancellor in vacation, having jurisdiction over any such estate or trust existing at the time of the enactment of this statute may, in its discretion, cancel any such bond or release any such security and discharge the surety or sureties thereon. However, the retroactive effect of this section shall not apply to the release of any such bond or security or surety on any estate, guardianship, or trust on which a bond or security or surety was required as a result of the failure of a probated will to waive bond, security, or surety.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-37 Uniform Common Trust Fund Law.

Any bank or trust company qualified to act as a fiduciary in this state may establish common trust funds for the purpose of furnishing investments to itself as fiduciary, or to itself and others, as co-fiduciaries; and may, as such fiduciary or co-fiduciary, invest funds which it lawfully holds for investment in interests in such common trust funds, if such investment is not prohibited by the instrument, judgment, decree, or order creating such fiduciary relationship, and if, in the case of co-fiduciaries, the bank or trust company procures the consent of its co-fiduciary or co-fiduciaries to such investment. Unless ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction the bank or trust company operating such common trust funds is not required to render a court accounting with regard to such funds; but it may, by application to the chancery court, secure approval of such an accounting on such conditions as the court may establish. This section shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate the general purpose of making uniform the law of those states which enact the Uniform Common Trust Fund Act. This section may be cited as the Uniform Common Trust Fund Law.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-39 Banks may register securities held in fiduciary capacity in name of bank’s nominee.

Whenever any bank or trust company organized under the laws of this state or any national bank doing business in this state is acting as trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, or other fiduciary and has a nominee, whether an individual, a corporation or a partnership, in whose name stocks, bonds, debentures, or any other corporate securities in registered form, may be registered, it shall be lawful and any such fiduciary is hereby authorized to register any such securities in the name of such nominee without disclosure of the trust or other fiduciary relationship on the face of the instrument evidencing such securities or in the bond registry or on the books of the corporation issuing the same, provided that: the books and records kept by the fiduciary and the accounts rendered by it shall clearly reflect the ownership of such securities by the fiduciary, the securities registered in the name of the nominee shall at all times be retained in the possession of the fiduciary and the nominee shall have no access thereto except under the immediate supervision of the fiduciary, and the fiduciary shall be personally liable for any loss to the trust or estate resulting from any act or neglect of such nominee with respect to any securities registered in the name of the nominee. Whenever any such bank or trust company is acting jointly with others as trustee or executor of a trust or estate it shall be lawful by agreement with such other fiduciary to register the securities of such trust or estate in the name of such bank or trust company’s nominee; and in the event two such banks or trust companies shall be acting as co-fiduciaries it shall be lawful to register the securities of the trust or estate in the name of the nominee of either fiduciary or by agreement to register a proportionate part thereof in the name of the nominee of each fiduciary.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-40 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1996, ch. 441, § 71, eff from and after May 1, 1997. [Laws, 1979, ch. 420, § 1]

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-41 Foreign investors may engage in certain activities without qualifying.

Without excluding other activities within this state, or activities outside this state involving taking security of real estate located in this state, which may not constitute transacting or engaging in business in this state, any of the following, not organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi and which has no place of business within this state: a mutual savings bank or mutual savings fund society, or any national banking association now or hereafter organized under the laws of the United States of America, or any bank or trust company now or hereafter incorporated or organized under the laws of any state of the United States of America (including the District of Columbia,) or any insurance company, or any corporation all the capital stock of which (except directors’ qualifying shares) is owned by one or more such mutual savings banks, mutual savings fund societies, national banking associations, banks, trust companies or insurance companies, engaged in making or investing in loans secured by real estate or lending on the security of real estate, shall not be considered to be transacting or engaging in business in this state, by reason of carrying on in this state any one or more of the following activities: The acquisition or making of loans, or participation or interests therein, secured by deeds of trust, mortgages or mortgage notes on real property situated in Mississippi pursuant to commitment agreements or arrangements made prior to or following the origination or creation of said loans; The making directly or through or in participation with national or state banks having banking offices in this state or other Mississippi concerns engaged within this state in the business of making or servicing such loans, of loans secured by such mortgages or mortgage notes, or loans secured by assignments or pledges of obligations secured by such mortgages or mortgage notes; The ownership, modification, renewals, extensions, transfers or foreclosure of such loans, mortgages or mortgage notes, or the acceptance of substitute or additional obligators thereon; The maintenance of bank accounts in national or state banks having banking offices within this state in connection with the collection or servicing of such loans, mortgages or mortgage notes; The maintenance of depository or pledge-holder agreements or arrangements with national or state banks having banking offices within this state in connection with the taking of assignments or pledges of such loans, mortgages or mortgage notes; The making, collection and servicing of such loans, mortgages or mortgage notes directly or through a Mississippi concern engaged in the business within this state of servicing real estate loans; The taking of deeds to the mortgaged property for a reasonable period of time either in lieu of foreclosure or for the purpose of transferring title either to the Federal Housing Administration or to the Veterans Administration as the insurer or guarantor; The acquisition of title to real property for a reasonable period of time under foreclosure sale or from the owner in lieu of foreclosure; The management, rental, maintenance and sale, or the operating, maintaining, renting or otherwise dealing with, selling or disposing of real property acquired under foreclosure sale or by agreement in lieu thereof; The maintaining or defending of any actions or suits relating to such loans, deeds of trust, mortgages, mortgage notes, agreements or other arrangements or activities referred to herein or incidental thereto; and The physical inspection and appraisal of real property in Mississippi as security for mortgage notes or mortgages and negotiations for such loans. The acquisition or making of loans, or participations or interest therein, which are secured by mortgages or mortgage notes on real property located in this state and the doing of any or all the other acts or things with respect hereto enumerated in this section, by any such bank, trust company, or any other corporation when acting as fiduciary, trustee or agent of any trust, whether testamentary or inter vivos, including foundations and trusts established for the purpose of funding pension, profit-sharing or employee benefit plans, or by an endowed institution, foundation or eleemosynary corporation, or by any corporation chartered under the laws of another state as a group insurance and annuity association and engaged in the business of insurance, annuities, pensions and retirement plans for any group of persons, educational institutions and others, or by any corporation all the capital stock of which (except directors’ qualifying shares) is owned by one or more of the entities referred to above, shall likewise not be considered to be transacting or engaging in business in this state; and any such corporation, when so acting as fiduciary, trustee or agent, and any such trust, endowed institution, foundation, eleemosynary corporation or group insurance and annuity association shall be entitled to all the rights, privileges and exceptions set forth in this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the benefits and application of this section to loans insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, the Veterans Administration, or any other governmental agency or department, and the benefits of this section shall extend to and include, all loans or participations or interests therein, secured by mortgages or mortgage notes on real property situated in Mississippi, whether or not insured or guaranteed. No such corporation, institution or entity coming under the provisions of this section, and confining its business operations in Mississippi within the limits herein provided, shall be required to qualify to do business in this state by filing its charter in the Office of the Secretary of State or to pay any tax or fee required to be paid by corporations under any law of this state. However, such exemption shall not include: (a) Ad valorem taxes assessed against any real or personal property which such corporation, institution or entity may own in the State of Mississippi; (b) Mississippi income, franchise and privilege tax which may result from the sale, ownership or control after acquisition of such property by foreclosure, or acquisition in lieu of foreclosure, either by virtue of the value of the specific piece of property so foreclosed or to which title is taken in lieu of foreclosure, or by virtue of the rental or other income realized from said property. Any bank, trust company, mutual savings bank, pension fund, mutual savings fund society, mutual banking association, insurance company or any other type of organization defined in this section and investing funds in Mississippi may sue or be sued within this state in relation to such mortgages or deeds of trust on real properties, securities or debts and service of process may be performed by service upon any custodian or agent appointed within the state. If no such custodian or agent has been appointed, the Secretary of State shall be and he is hereby appointed and shall remain as the duly authorized agent of such organization upon whom such service of process may be had. In cases where such organization is sued, the venue of such action shall be in the county of the residence of the plaintiffs, or any of them, except where land is involved, in which case, venue shall be in the county in which the land, or any part of it, is located. The Secretary of State, upon the receipt of process by him on such organization, shall forthwith forward notice of the same by registered mail with return receipt requested to the post office address of such nonresident corporation, mutual savings bank or association and shall make a notation of said fact upon his process record to such effect. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit any corporation to do business in violation of the Small Loan Law of the State of Mississippi nor of the laws of Mississippi governing the organization and operation of building and loan associations or societies, or savings and loan associations or societies, nor to limit the authority of corporations authorized to do unlimited business under the general laws of Mississippi, or to qualify to be so authorized.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-43 Out-of-state banking and trust associations and corporations may act as executors, administrators, trustees and guardians.

Any out-of-state banking corporation, or banking association, or out-of-state trust corporation, or association, which has its principal office in another state, authorized to act as executor or administrator of estates of decedents or trustees under wills and voluntary trust agreements, and as guardian of minors or incompetent persons, in the state where it has its principal office, may apply and act in such capacities in this state in ancillary or original proceedings, if similar domestic corporations or associations having their principal office in this state, which are authorized in this state to so act, are permitted to act in like capacity with no greater responsibilities or requirements in the state where such out-of-state corporation or association has its principal office. No such corporation or association shall act in any such capacities until it shall have appointed in writing the Secretary of State of Mississippi, and his successor, as its service agent, upon whom all process in any suit or proceeding against it may be served, and in such writing shall agree that any process against it which shall be served upon such Secretary of State shall be of the same legal force and validity as if served on such corporation or association. Such appointment shall continue so long as any liability shall remain outstanding against the corporation or banking association pertaining to any such matters. The court having jurisdiction shall require such corporation or association to give bond for the performance of such trust, unless otherwise provided in the trust agreement or will, in which case the provisions of the statutes in such cases made and provided shall apply. However, no such corporation or association shall be required to give any bond for the performance of such trust where such corporation or association is not required to give bond for the performance of such trust under or by virtue of the laws of the state in which such corporation or association has its principal office. This section shall not prevent out-of-state banking corporations or banking associations or out-of-state trust corporations or associations from qualifying and acting in a fiduciary capacity in the State of Mississippi under wills or trust agreements heretofore executed, designating such out-of-state corporation or association as a fiduciary thereunder, nor shall this section prevent any such out-of-state corporation or association that has heretofore qualified as a fiduciary in the State of Mississippi from continuing to serve as a fiduciary in matters in which they have heretofore qualified in this state. This section shall not apply to trust agreements executed for the purpose of securing loans or guaranties thereof. For the purposes of this section, “out-of-state” means having the charter of incorporation issued by a state other than the State of Mississippi, or having its main office in a state other than the State of Mississippi; provided, however, this section shall not apply to an out-of-state national or state bank or out-of-state federal or state thrift which maintains a branch in Mississippi.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-45 Qualification and oath of directors; meetings; executive and auditing committee.

Every director of every state bank must be the owner, in his or her own right, of unencumbered stock therein to the amount of at least Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) par value. He shall take and subscribe an annual oath that he will faithfully and diligently perform the duties of his office and will not knowingly violate or permit to be violated any provision of law. Such oath shall be immediately transmitted to the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance and filed in its office. Every executive officer, as defined in Regulation O promulgated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, of every bank doing business under the laws of this state shall subscribe to a similar annual oath and immediately transmit the same to the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance. The board of directors of every banking corporation shall meet at least once each quarter in each calendar year and shall at such times consider generally the affairs of the bank. An executive and auditing committee selected by a majority of the board of directors shall meet at least in those months when the board of directors does not meet and shall at such times consider generally the affairs of the bank. However, if the board of directors of any bank meets every month, the executive and auditing committee of that bank shall meet at least two (2) times annually. The Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance, in his discretion, may prescribe such forms as he may deem necessary, which, when properly executed, shall reflect the activities of the board of directors or the executive and auditing committee. It shall be the responsibility of the board of directors and the executive and auditing committee at such meetings to complete the forms prescribed and furnished by the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance, and to file same in its office when required by the commissioner. The results of the examinations by the board of directors and the executive and auditing committee shall be entered in the minutes of the bank.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-47 Directors may contract to sell stock while continuing to serve.

Any director of a bank or other banking corporation while serving in such capacity may enter into a contract or option providing for the sale of his or her stock at such time as he or she ceases, by death or otherwise, to be a director thereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-49 Interlocking directorates prohibited.

No person shall be permitted to be a director in more than one bank serving the same incorporated town or city doing business in this state. Any person holding a directorship in violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not more than $100.00 and be ineligible to hold a directorship in any state bank within two years therefrom. This section shall not apply to savings banks and trust companies operated in connection with commercial banks doing business in the same building.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-51 Loans to directors and executive officers.

Loans aggregating fifteen percent (15%) of the unimpaired capital and unimpaired surplus may be made by any state bank to any director or executive officer thereof, as defined in Regulation O promulgated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, less existing direct and indirect liabilities thereto, upon affirmative approval of a majority of all directors spread on the minutes of a directors’ meeting held before such loan is made, provided, such loan is made on substantially the same terms and conditions extended to other borrowers for comparable transactions. Any state bank may lend to any such director or executive officer thereof, upon affirmative approval of a majority of all directors spread on the minutes of a directors’ meeting held before such loan is made, not more than twenty percent (20%) of the unimpaired capital and unimpaired surplus of the bank, less the amount of existing direct and indirect liabilities, when secured; or when the portion thereof in excess of any amount loaned under the first provision hereof is secured by obligations of the United States government, the State of Mississippi, and the levee districts, counties, road districts, school districts, and municipalities of the State of Mississippi, obligations of any other state of the United States and other bonds of recognized character and standing, which are the subject of daily newspaper market quotations, provided such loan shall not exceed eighty percent (80%) of the market or par value (whichever is less) of the bonds or obligations offered as security. Any state bank may lend to any executive officer or director thereof upon affirmative approval of a majority of all directors spread on the minutes of a directors’ meeting held before such loan is made, such amount as is safe and proper, when secured by warehouse receipts or shippers’ order bills of lading representing actual existing values, provided the amount loaned shall not exceed eighty percent (80%) of the market value of the commodities representing the actual existing values, and loans of this nature shall be made payable on demand so that the security held therefor may be sold on any date and the proceeds thereof applied to the payment of the loan. However, a bank’s board of directors may, as shown in its minutes, give to a bank officer the authority to make secured or unsecured loans to an executive officer or director of such bank, without receiving the board’s prior approval, in an amount that, when aggregated with the amount of all other extensions of credit to that person and to all related interests of that person, does not exceed the greater of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) or five percent (5%) of the bank’s unimpaired capital and unimpaired surplus. However, no state bank shall extend credit to any director or executive officer thereof, in an amount that, when aggregated with all other extensions of credit to that person and to all related interests of that person, exceeds Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) without documented prior affirmative approval of a majority of its directors. Loans and discounts by a state bank to a director or executive officer thereof secured in full by funds on deposit in time or savings accounts with the lending bank to the credit of the borrower shall not be restricted to the fifteen percent (15%) or twenty percent (20%) limitations herein prescribed. The limitations of this section shall not apply where an executive officer or director shall bona fide purchase from the bank at a reasonable price real or personal property acquired by the bank in payment of debts due the bank, provided such transactions are approved by a majority of the board of directors, such approval to be shown in their minutes; and, in cases where loans are made by branch banks, the sum total of loans made by any branch or branches and its parent bank to such executive officer or director shall be computed as against the total capital stock and surplus of the parent bank and its branch or branches. Loans heretofore made to executive officers or directors may be renewed or extended if in accord with sound banking practice.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-53 Limitation of liability when dealing with agents, trustees, etc.

A bank dealing, whether to its own benefit or otherwise, with, through or under any person, who is or may be an agent, trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, or other fiduciary, or a corporate officer, agent or employee, or a partnership member or representative, shall not be deemed to have notice of or be obligated to inquire as to any lack of or limitation upon the power of such person by reason in and of itself, either of the fact that such person has executed in his representative capacity and is himself the payee or indorsee of any check, bill, note or other promise or order, or of the use of descriptive words in connection with his deposit account or accounts, or in connection with any transfer, certificate or memorandum thereof, or in connection with any signature or indorsement of such person.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-55 Name of depositors not to be disclosed.

In no instance shall the name of any depositor, or the amount of his deposit, be disclosed to anyone, except to report to approved parties, such as credit bureaus, account verification services and others, the forcible closure of a deposit account due to misuse, such as fraud, kiting or chronic bad check writing or when required to be done in legal proceedings, for verification of public assistance in cases in which the Department of Human Services or the Division of Medicaid certifies that it has on file an effective written authorization from the depositor authorizing the disclosure of that information, for verification of the financial exploitation of a vulnerable person in cases in which the Attorney General submits a written authorization, or in case of insolvency of banks. The parties referred to in this section must be approved by the Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance and must satisfactorily demonstrate their reliability and credibility of their activities. Disclosure of depositor information to any affiliate or agent providing services on behalf of the bank shall not be considered disclosure of depositor information within the meaning of this section. The term “affiliate” means a corporation or business entity that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the bank. The term “agent” means anyone who has an agreement, arrangement or understanding to transact business for the bank by the authority and on account of the bank, provided that the agreement binds the agent to the same degree of confidentiality of disclosure of bank records as the bank. Any violation of this provision shall be considered a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, in any court of competent jurisdiction, the person shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisoned in the county jail not more than six (6) months, or both, and in addition thereto, shall be liable upon his bond to any person damaged thereby. This section shall not be construed to prohibit the disclosure to the State Treasurer, State Auditor, Legislative Budget Office, Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review or the Department of Finance and Administration, of any information about any type of account or investment, including certificates of deposit, owned by any public entity of the State of Mississippi. This section shall not be construed to prohibit, or to impose liability for, the disclosure of information to: The Department of Human Services, the Child Support Unit of the Department of Human Services, the Division of Medicaid, or their contractors or agents, pursuant to Chapter 13 or Chapter 19, Title 43, Mississippi Code of 1972; or The Department of Revenue pursuant to Chapter 13, Title 85.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-56 Month and year checking account opened to be printed on face of checks.

From and after July 1, 1991, any financial institution offering checking accounts which accepts a new checking account shall require that there be printed on the face of each check for such new account the month and year in which the holder of the checking account first opened such account. Any account five (5) years of age or older may show an opening date of January 1986 if the date of actual opening is unavailable. The provisions of this section shall also apply to any additional checks ordered after July 1, 1991, for checking accounts which were in existence on March 15, 1991.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-57 Excess deposits; limit and penalty.

No state bank shall receive and hold deposits continuously for more than twelve months in excess of twenty times its paid up capital, surplus, undivided profits and reserves, except by permission of the state comptroller. Such permission of the state comptroller shall be in writing executed in duplicate, and one copy thereof shall be delivered to and held by the bank and the other shall be kept on file in the office of the state comptroller. Any bank violating the provisions of this section shall be liable for $100.00 penalty for each day in which deposits are held contrary to the provisions hereof, payable upon demand by the state comptroller who shall bring suit therefor if not paid within ten days after demand. All penalties collected under this section shall be paid into the department of bank supervision maintenance fund.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-59 Deposit of minors.

When any minor or other person under disability shall make a deposit in any bank in his or her name such bank may pay such money on a check or order of such person, the same as in other cases, and such payment shall be in all respects valid in law.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-61 Safe deposit boxes; leasing to minors.

Any bank or other corporation maintaining safe deposit boxes for lease to the public may lease one or more of such boxes to a minor eighteen (18) years of age or older and in connection therewith deal with such minor with the same effect as if leasing to and dealing with a person of full capacity.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-62 Accounts payable at death.

[Effective from and after January 1, 2020] Accounts payable at death may be established under the following conditions: An account in a bank, including a national bank, may be opened by any person or persons with directions to make such an account payable on the death of the person or persons opening such an account to the named beneficiary or beneficiaries. When an account is so opened, the bank shall pay any monies to the credit of the account from time to time to, or pursuant to the order of, the person or persons opening such an account during his or their lifetime in the same manner as if the account were in the sole name or names of such person or persons. The term “accounts” or “account” as used in this section shall include, but not be limited to, any form of deposit or account, such as a savings account, checking account, time deposit, demand deposit or certificate of deposit, whether negotiable, nonnegotiable or otherwise. If the named beneficiary or one (1) of the beneficiaries so named is an individual beneficiary and the individual beneficiary or beneficiaries survive the death of the person opening such an account, and the individual beneficiary or all of the individual beneficiaries so named are sixteen (16) years of age or over at the death of the person opening such an account, the bank shall pay the monies to the credit of the account, less all setoffs and charges, to the named individual beneficiary or beneficiaries or upon his or their order, as hereinafter provided, and such payment by the bank shall be valid, notwithstanding any lack of legal age of the named beneficiary or beneficiaries; provided, however, where such an account is opened or subsequently held by more than one (1) person, the death of one (1) of such persons shall not terminate the account and the account shall continue as to the surviving person or persons and the named beneficiary or beneficiaries subject to the provisions of paragraphs (c) through (j) of this section. For purposes of this section, the term “individual beneficiary” shall refer to a living person who is the named beneficiary of a payable on death account. If the named individual beneficiary or all of the individual beneficiaries so named survive the death of the person or persons opening such an account and are under sixteen (16) years of age at such time, the bank shall pay the monies to the credit of the account, less all setoffs and charges: When or after the named individual beneficiary becomes sixteen (16) years of age, to the named beneficiary or upon his order; or When more than one (1) individual beneficiary is named, the bank shall pay to each individual beneficiary so named his proportionate interest in such account as each severally becomes sixteen (16) years of age; or To the legal guardian of the named individual beneficiary, wherever appointed and qualified, or where more than one (1) beneficiary is named, the bank shall pay such individual beneficiary’s proportionate interest in such account to his legal guardian wherever and whenever appointed and qualified; or If no guardian is appointed and qualified, payment may be made in accordance with the provisions of Section 93-20-209 or 93-20-431 in situations to which such section or sections are applicable. Where the death of the person or persons opening such an account terminates the account under the provisions of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, and where one or more of the named individual beneficiaries are under sixteen (16) years of age and the remainder of the named individual beneficiaries are sixteen (16) years of age or over, the bank shall pay the monies, less all setoffs and charges, to: The named individual beneficiaries sixteen (16) years of age or over at the time of termination of such account pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section; and The named individual beneficiaries under sixteen (16) years of age at the time of termination of such account pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section. If the named beneficiary or one (1) of the beneficiaries so named is a revocable trust, evidenced by a written trust agreement, which trust is still in existence at the death of the person opening such an account, the bank shall pay the monies to the credit of the account, less all setoffs and charges, to the trustee of the named revocable trust or upon his or their order, as hereinafter provided, upon being presented an affidavit by the trustee stating that the name of the trust, the names of the current trustees, and that the trust is still in existence at the time of presentment of the affidavit. Such payment by the bank shall be valid, notwithstanding any lack of actual authority by the trustee, and the bank shall be discharged and released to the same extent as if the bank had dealt with the personal representative of the decedent. Such bank shall not be required to see to the proper application of the monies or evidence thereof or to inquire into the truth of any statement presented in the affidavit by the trustee. Where such account is opened or subsequently held by more than one (1) person, the bank, in the absence of any written instructions to the contrary which are consented to by the bank, shall accept payments made to such account and may pay any monies to the credit of such account from time to time to, or pursuant to the order of, either or any of such persons during their life or lives in the same manner as if the account were in the sole name of either or any of such persons. When a person or persons open an account in a bank in the form set forth in paragraph (a) of this section, and makes a payment or payments to such account or causes a payment or payments to be made to such account, it shall be conclusively presumed that such person or persons intend to vest in the named beneficiary or beneficiaries a present beneficial interest in such payment so made and in the monies to the credit of the account from time to time, to the end that, if the named beneficiary or beneficiaries survive the person or persons opening such an account, all the right and title of the person or persons opening such an account in and to the monies to the credit of the account at the death of such person or persons, less all setoffs and charges, shall, at such death, vest solely and indefeasibly in the named beneficiary or beneficiaries subject to the conditions and limitations of paragraphs (b) through (j) of this section. If the named individual beneficiary predeceases the person opening such an account, or if the named beneficiary is a revocable trust that is terminated, the present beneficial interest presumed to be vested in the named beneficiary pursuant to paragraph (g) of this section shall terminate at the death of the named individual beneficiary or upon the termination of the revocable trust named as a beneficiary. In such case, the personal representatives of the named individual beneficiary, the beneficiaries of the revocable trust, and all others claiming through or under the named beneficiary, shall have no right in or title to the monies to the credit of the account, and the bank shall pay such monies, less all setoffs and charges, to the person opening such an account or pursuant to his order in the same manner as if the account were in the sole name of the person opening such an account; provided, however, where such an account names more than one (1) beneficiary, the death of one (1) of the individual beneficiaries or the termination of a revocable trust beneficiary so named shall not terminate the account and the account shall continue as to the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries subject to the provisions of paragraphs (b) through (j) of this section. A bank which makes any payment pursuant to paragraphs (b) through (h) of this section, prior to service upon the bank of an order of court restraining such payment, shall, to the extent of each payment so made, be released from all claims of the person or persons opening such an account, the named beneficiary or beneficiaries, their legal representatives, and all others claiming through or under them. When an account is opened in a form described in paragraph (a) of this section, the right of the named beneficiary or beneficiaries to be vested with sole and indefeasible title to the monies to the credit of the account on the death of the person or persons opening such an account shall not be denied, abridged or in anyway affected because such right has not been created by a writing executed in accordance with the law of this state prescribing the requirements to effect a valid testamentary disposition of property.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-63 Deposit in name of two or more persons; payments to successors of deceased depositors without administration; “successor” defined.

When a deposit has been made or is hereafter made in the name of two (2) or more persons, payable to any one (1) of those persons, or payable to any one (1) of those persons or the survivor, or payable to any one (1) of those persons or to the survivor or survivors, or payable to the persons as joint tenants, the deposit or any part thereof or interest or dividends thereon may be paid to any one (1) of those persons, without liability whether one or more of those persons is living or not, and the receipt of acquittance of the person so paid shall be a valid and sufficient release and discharge to the bank for any payment so made. The making of a deposit in that form, or the making of additions thereto, shall create a presumption in any action or proceeding to which either the bank or any survivor is a party of the intention of all the persons named on the deposit to vest title to the deposit and the additions thereto and all interest or dividends thereon in the survivor or survivors. Any bank may pay to the successor of a deceased depositor, without necessity of administration, any sum to the credit of the decedent not exceeding Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($12,500.00), without liability to any other persons, relatives or beneficiaries, and the receipt of acquittance of the person so paid shall be a valid and sufficient release and discharge to the bank for any payment so made. This section shall apply to all banking institutions, including national banks and postal savings banks within the state. The term “deposit” as used in this section shall include, but not be limited to, any form of deposit or account, such as a savings account, checking account, time deposit, demand deposit or certificate of deposit, whether negotiable, nonnegotiable or otherwise. For the purposes of this subsection, “successor” means the decedent’s spouse; or, if there is no surviving spouse of the decedent, then the adult with whom any minor children of the decedent are residing; or, if there is no surviving spouse or minor children of the decedent, then any adult child of the decedent; or, if there is no surviving spouse or children of the decedent, then either parent of the decedent; or, if there is no surviving spouse, children or parent of the decedent, then any adult sibling of the decedent.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-64 Access to safe-deposit box upon death of sole lessee or last surviving co-lessee; definitions; order of priority; documentation required; rights and responsibilities of persons granted access; liability protections to financial institutions.

Definitions.For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: “Financial institution” means any banking corporation, national bank, savings and loan association, credit union or postal savings bank operating in this state. “Safe-deposit box” means a storage container maintained in the vault area of a financial institution leased to a financial institution customer for the safekeeping of personal property that can be accessed with keys, pin numbers or some other security device. “Successor” means the decedent’s spouse; or if there is no surviving spouse of the decedent, then any adult child of the decedent; or if there is no surviving spouse or adult child of the decedent, then either parent of the decedent; or, if there is no surviving spouse, adult child or parent of the decedent, then any adult sibling of the decedent. Persons entitled to access in absence of probate or administration.At any time after one hundred eighty (180) days from the death of a sole lessee or the last surviving co-lessee of a safe-deposit box, a financial institution shall grant access in the following order of priority to a safe-deposit box that was leased by the lessee at the time of the lessee’s death: The personal representative named in the lessee’s will if an estate has not been opened. A successor of the deceased safe-deposit box lessee, without necessity of administration, if an estate has not been opened. Documentation required.A person seeking access to the safe-deposit box must provide the financial institution with the following: Reasonable proof of the lessee’s death; Reasonable proof of the identity of the person seeking access; and An affidavit meeting the requirements of subsection (5) of this section. Inventory.After presenting the financial institution with the items required by subsection (3) of this section, and within a reasonable time that allows the financial institution to comply, a person entitled to access to a safe-deposit box under subsection (2) of this section may exercise the following rights: The right to open the safe-deposit box in the presence of an employee of the financial institution along with one (1) other person who is either an officer of the financial institution or an attorney with an active bar license, after which an inventory of the contents of the safe-deposit box must be prepared by the person granted access and signed by: The person granted access to the safe-deposit box; The employee; and The third person who witnessed the inventory of the contents. A copy of the inventory may be retained by the financial institution as a business record. The right to remove the contents of the safe-deposit box, subject to the requirements and limitations of this section. The right to cancel the lease for the safe-deposit box after all contents of the safe-deposit box have been removed. Affidavit.An affidavit required by subsection (3)(c) of this section must contain the following information: The name of the person leasing the safe-deposit box and the date of the lessee’s death; The county in which the lessee was domiciled at the time of the lessee’s death; A statement that no application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative has been granted or is pending in any jurisdiction; A statement that the value of the entire estate of the decedent, wherever located, excluding all liens and encumbrances thereon, does not exceed Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00); and A statement under penalty of perjury that the affiant is qualified under subsection (2)(a) or (2)(b) of this section to obtain access to the safe-deposit box leased by the individual and the facts establishing the qualification. Responsibility of a person granted access.A person to whom access to a safe-deposit box is provided under this section is answerable and accountable to the administrator or executor of the estate of the decedent if one is subsequently opened. However, a financial institution that provides access to a safe-deposit box under this section is discharged and released from liability and responsibility for the contents held in the safe-deposit box to the same extent as if the financial institution had dealt with the personal representative or executor of the decedent. The financial institution is not required to: Inquire into the truth of any statement in an affidavit presented under this section; or Participate in the disposition of the assets held in the safe-deposit box or ensure that such assets are properly handled or disposed of. Prepayment of fees or cost.If a person granted access under this section does not have a key to the safe-deposit box and a financial institution requires the services of a locksmith or other contractor to gain access to a safe-deposit box, the financial institution may charge the person granted access a lost-key, drilling or similar fee, or require the person granted access to pay any cost associated with the services of a locksmith or other contractor necessary to gain access to the safe-deposit box. The financial institution shall have a reasonable amount of time to have the safe-deposit box drilled after payment of the required fee to allow the person granted access to access the safe-deposit box. Interim access. A person described in subsection (2) of this section shall be given access to a safe-deposit box before expiration of the required one-hundred-eighty-day period only to remove any will or burial instructions contained therein. The person must first meet all the requirements and conditions of subsection (4)(a) of this section concerning the persons required to be present and a full inventory of the contents of the safe-deposit box; but no other contents of the safe-deposit box may be removed until the one-hundred-eighty-day requirement of subsection (2) has been satisfied. The person given interim access to the safe-deposit box must immediately deliver all wills found and removed from the safe-deposit box to the clerk of the chancery court of the county in which the decedent was domiciled at the time of the decedent’s death; failure to do so shall subject the person to criminal liability under Section 97-9-77. The financial institution may make a complete copy of any document removed and delivered under the terms of this subsection (8) and place that copy, together with a copy of the inventory and supporting documentation noted with the date of delivery, in the safe-deposit box to remain there pending removal of the contents of the box as provided by this section or other law. Reliance on affidavit A financial institution that acts in reliance upon an affidavit described in subsection (5) of this section without knowledge that the representations contained therein are incorrect is not liable to any person for so acting. A financial institution that does not have actual knowledge that the facts contained in the affidavit described in subsection (5) of this section are incorrect may assume without inquiry the existence of the facts contained in the affidavit. A financial institution shall not be held liable for any costs, expenses, damages or attorney’s fees arising from a grant of access to, or delivery of, the contents held in a safe-deposit box when the access or delivery is under the provisions of this section. Affidavit form.A document substantially in the following form may be used as the affidavit prescribed in subsection (3)(c) and subsection (5) of this section. Click to view SAFE-DEPOSIT BOX AFFIDAVIT The undersigned, after having been first duly sworn, hereby state(s) that: 1. The undersigned makes this affidavit under penalty of perjury pursuant to Section 81-5-64, Mississippi Code of 1972; 2. (“decedent”) died on the day of , 20 , and was domiciled in County; 3. At least one hundred eighty (180) days have elapsed since the death of the decedent; 4. The value of the entire estate of the decedent, wherever located, excluding all liens and encumbrances thereon, does not exceed Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00); 5. No application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative of the estate has been granted or is pending in any jurisdiction; 6. At his/her death, decedent was the last surviving lessee/sole lessee of safe-deposit box number located at . 7. The undersigned is qualified to obtain access to the safe-deposit box leased by the decedent as the successor as defined in Section 81-5-64, Mississippi Code of 1972: (Choose one) a. The decedent’s spouse; b. Or if there is no surviving spouse of the decedent, then any adult child of the decedent; c. Or if there is no surviving spouse or adult child of the decedent, then either parent of the decedent; or d. If there is no surviving spouse, adult child or parent of the decedent, then any adult sibling of the decedent. The undersigned hereby ask(s) the financial institution to allow access to the safe-deposit box of the decedent to allow for the cancellation of the rental contract and relinquishment of the contents contained therein. SIGNATURE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT Date: Printed Name: Address: Telephone Number: This document was acknowledged before me on (Date) by (Name of Affiant). Signature of Notary (Seal, if any.) My commission expires:

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-65 Accounts of deceased depositors to be reported; publicity of same.

It shall be the duty of every officer and employee of the department of bank supervision to report to the state comptroller the name of every person not known to be living who appears by the records of the bank to have a sum of money on deposit; provided this section shall only apply to deposits made five years or more prior to such report which have not been added to by further deposits or reduced by withdrawal. The state comptroller shall give publicity to any such fact in such manner as he may prescribe.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-67 Settlement of adverse claims to deposits.

Notice to any bank doing business in this state of an adverse claim to a deposit standing on its books to the credit of any person shall not be effectual to cause the bank to recognize such adverse claimant unless such adverse claimant shall also either procure a restraining order, injunction or other appropriate process against the bank from a court of competent jurisdiction in a cause therein instituted by him wherein the person to whose credit the deposit stands is made a party and served with summons, or shall execute to the bank, in form, and with sureties, acceptable to it a bond, indemnifying it from any and all liability, loss, damage, costs, and expenses for and on account of the payment of such adverse claim or the dishonor of the check or other order of the person to whose credit the deposit stands on the books of the bank.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-69 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1994, ch. 320, § 11, eff from and after July 1, 1994. [Codes, 1942, § 5208; Laws, 1934, ch. 146; 1936, ch. 165; 1942, ch. 262; 1976, ch. 368]

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-71 Certifying checks.

No officer, clerk or employee of any bank shall certify to a check unless the amount thereof actually stands to the credit of the drawer on the books of the bank, and any person who shall wilfully violate this provision shall on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars. The amount of any check certified shall be at once charged to the drawer’s account and credited to certified check account, there to remain until said check is retired. Any such check so certified by a duly authorized person shall be a good and valid obligation of the bank in the hands of the holder.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-73 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1997, ch. 542, § 11, eff from and after passage (approved April 10, 1997). [Codes, 1942, § 5209; Laws, 1934, ch. 146; 1936, ch. 165; 1962, ch. 175; 1968, ch. 255, § 1]

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-75 Authorization for payment of dividend.

No state bank shall declare or pay any dividend upon its common stock unless such bank has received written approval by the Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance. Directors declaring a dividend in violation of the provisions of this section shall be personally liable to the full amount of the dividend so declared and it shall be the duty of the commissioner, upon discovering the payment of any such dividend, to forthwith make demand upon the directors that the same be restored to the bank, and upon their failure so to do he shall cause suit to be brought against them in the chancery court of the county in which the bank is located, either in his name or in the name of the bank, to recover the same for the benefit of the bank.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-77 Limit of loans and extensions of credit to single borrower.

The liability to a bank by a person, company, corporation or firm for all loans and extensions of credit, including in the liability of such person, company or firm, where a partnership, the liabilities of the several members thereof, shall not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the aggregate unimpaired capital and unimpaired surplus of the bank. The following shall not be restricted to or considered as coming within the limitations of twenty percent (20%) prescribed in subsection (a): Loans and discounts secured by warehouse receipts or shippers’ order bills of lading representing actually existing values, provided the amount of such loans and discounts shall not exceed eighty-five percent (85%) of the market value of the commodities representing the actually existing values. Loans and discounts secured by bonds, certificates or notes constituting direct obligations of the United States government, or bonds fully guaranteed by the United States government, or by full faith and credit obligations of the State of Mississippi; however, the Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance shall from time to time determine and fix the maximum percentage of the par value of all such securities that may be loaned. Loans and discounts to the extent that they are secured or covered by guaranties, or by commitments, or agreements to take over or purchase the same, 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 are to be performed by payment within sixty (60) days after demand; provided, further, that the Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance is authorized to define the terms used in this section and may by regulation control the making of loans under this paragraph (iii). Loans and discounts secured in full by funds on deposit in time or savings accounts with the lending bank to the credit of the borrower. The limit on loans and extensions of credit applicable to any one (1) person, company, corporation, or firm under this section shall take into consideration credit exposure arising from derivative transactions between the bank and the party. For purposes of this section, the term “derivative transaction” includes any transaction that is a contract, agreement, swap, warrant, note, or option that is based, in whole or in part, on the value of, any interest in, or any quantitative measure or the occurrence of any event relating to, one or more commodities, securities, currencies, interest or other rates, indices, or other assets. Any officer or director who approves or makes loans prohibited in this section shall be liable individually for the full amount of the principal and interest of any such loan or extension of credit. If the Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance discovers, in any examination of any open bank that there is a loss on any loan or extension of credit made in violation of this section, he shall make demand of all directors and officers approving or making such loan or extension of credit for payment of the entire unpaid balance on any such loan or extension of credit. Like demand shall be made and suit brought by the receiver of any bank in liquidation. However, this section shall not apply to loans or extensions of credit to the State of Mississippi, or to any political subdivision thereof, nor to any levee district.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-79 Small loans.

Any bank or trust company heretofore or hereafter organized under any general or special law of this state and doing a banking business in this state and any national bank doing business in this state shall have power, in addition to such other powers as it may have, to make loans to any borrower or debtor in an amount not exceeding Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) to be repaid in monthly installments and may charge interest thereon at not exceeding twelve percent (12%) per annum for the entire period of the loan, and aggregate the principal and interest for the entire period of the loan and divide same into monthly installments, and may take security therefor as for other loans. A charge of Ten Dollars (10) in lieu of interest may be made on any loan payable in a single payment, and a charge of Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) in lieu of interest may be made on any loan payable in monthly installments. No further interest or discount or service charge, or other charge by way of compensation for the use of such money, shall be made directly or indirectly on any such loan or discount by any such bank, trust company or national bank, made under the provisions of this section, in addition to the charges herein expressly provided for. However, this section shall in no way repeal any of the other present usury statutes.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-81 Effect of third-party deposits to induce making of unsound loans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Bank, or the State Comptroller, Department of Bank Supervision, State of Mississippi, is hereby authorized to freeze any deposit which is made by any third party for the purpose of enticing any bank in the State of Mississippi, whether state or national, into making a loan which is unsafe and unsound and which does not mature prior to any attempt to withdraw such deposit so used to entice the making of said loan. This statute relates to deposits and loans which are not related in the customary function of business but are manipulated and procured by third parties (by whatever name known) for profit and the withdrawal or attempt to withdraw said deposit before said loan is sufficiently satisfied shall be sufficient authority for any state or federal supervising authority to act promptly on evidence presented to it or obtained by said agency. If any bank in the State of Mississippi shall be put into liquidation and such deposit and loan arrangements have made any contribution whatsoever to the insolvency of said bank, then the state or federal agency, the duly appointed liquidating agency or receiver, or the appropriate chancery court in charge of the liquidation of said bank shall have the right and duty to withhold any liquidating dividends or payments for said deposit or deposits until the loan or loans which the deposits have influenced are fully satisfied, and the liquidating agent or receiver shall have the right upon the approval of the chancery court to assign said loan or loans so influenced to the depositor or depositors in satisfaction of said deposit or deposits claimed against the assets of the bank in liquidation.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-83 Limit of borrowing power of banks.

No bank chartered and doing business under the laws of this state shall issue bills payable or be liable on rediscounts at any time to a total amount in excess of three times its capital and surplus. However, this limit may be exceeded by a bank with the consent and approval in writing, of the state comptroller. Any violation of this provision by a bank shall authorize the state comptroller to deal with it as a bank being operated in violation of the laws, provided, however, that this section shall in no wise impair any obligation of banks for payment of loans and rediscounts in excess of the limit herein provided, nor shall any bank owing money heretofore borrowed in excess of this limit be held to be acting in violation of the law as to such existing loans.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-85 Consolidation, conversion or merger of state or state and national banks, state or federal savings and loan associations and state-chartered banks, and state or federal savings banks and state-chartered banks.

Any two (2) or more state-chartered banks, or any national bank and any state-chartered bank, or any state or federal savings and loan association and any state-chartered bank, or any state or federal savings bank and any state-chartered bank, may, with the approval of the commissioner, consolidate with or merge into one (1) state-chartered bank, under the charter of the existing state bank, on such terms and conditions, as may be lawfully agreed upon, adopted and approved in a merger plan in accordance with Article 11, Chapter 4 of Title 79, Mississippi Code of 1972. Following receipt of the required corporate approvals and approval of the merger plan by the commissioner, the resulting amendments to charters of any state-chartered bank that is a party to the merger plan shall be approved and filed with other state officials in accordance with Section 81-3-15. The capital stock of such consolidated bank shall not be less than that required under the Mississippi banking laws for the organization of a bank in the place in which it is located. And all the rights, franchises and interests of the institutions so consolidated in and to every species of property, personal and mixed, and choses in action thereto belonging, shall be deemed to be transferred to and vested in such bank into which they are consolidated without any deed or other transfer, and the said consolidated bank shall hold and enjoy the same and all rights of property, franchises and interests in the same manner and to the same extent as were held and enjoyed by the institutions so consolidated therewith. Any national bank, state or federal savings and loan association, or state or federal savings bank may apply for conversion into a state-chartered bank upon the affirmative vote of the shareholders owning at least two-thirds (2/3) of its capital stock outstanding, or of fifty-one percent (51%) or more of the total number of the members, at a meeting called by the directors, notice of which, specifying the purpose, shall be given the manner required by the bylaws, or in the absence of such bylaw, then by sending the notice to each shareholder of record by registered mail at least ten (10) days before the meeting. Upon such affirmative vote, the converting institution may apply for a certificate of authority by filing with the commissioner a certificate signed by its president and cashier which sets forth the corporate action herein prescribed and asserts that the institution has complied with the provisions of the laws of the United States. The converting institution shall also file with the commissioner the plan of conversion and the proposed amendments to its articles of incorporation as approved by the stockholders for the operation of the institution as a state bank. Upon receipt of the prescribed application, the commissioner shall examine all facts associated with the conversion. The expenses and cost incurred for such special examination shall be paid by the institution applying for permission to convert. The commissioner shall present his findings and recommendations to the State Board of Banking Review for consideration. Upon approval by the State Board of Banking Review, the commissioner shall issue a certificate of authority to the applicant allowing the conversion to proceed. Any bank, savings and loan association or savings bank chartered by the State of Mississippi is hereby authorized to convert into, consolidate with, or merge with a national bank domiciled in the State of Mississippi, with the national bank charter surviving, without approval of the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance, the Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance, or any state authority whatsoever.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-87 Holding of real estate by bank.

Any banking corporation doing business in this state may purchase, hold and convey real estate for the following purposes and no others: Such real estate as shall be necessary in which to transact the business of any such bank, including with its banking offices, premises in the same building to rent as a source of income, also such real estate and improvements necessary for the operation and conduct of its branch banks, branch offices, drive-in windows and parking facilities not connected to the main office, branch banks or branch offices. The book value of the bank’s real estate shall not exceed fifty percentum (50%) of its net capital funds as published by the last preceding call statement as of December 31, and this shall be without regard to population but subject to the approval of the state comptroller; however, the book value of such real estate and improvements shall be reduced each year the amount that is allowable for depreciation by the Internal Revenue Service until such book value shall be reduced to at least twenty-five percentum (25%) of the net capital funds as shown by its last published statement as of December 31. None of the facilities, main banking quarters, branch banks, branch offices, drive-in windows or parking facilities not connected to the main office, branch banks or branch offices shall be purchased or commenced without first having the approval of the state comptroller. Such real estate as shall be purchased by or conveyed to such bank in satisfaction of or on account of debts previously contracted in the usual course of its business. Such real estate as shall be purchased at sale under judgments, decrees or mortgages, or deeds of trust, foreclosure under securities held by such bank or under any security or lien which is a superior lien to that held by said bank. Upon approval of the state comptroller, a bank may purchase additional real estate for future expansion or future new quarters but if said real estate is not developed for the purpose intended and purchased, the said real estate shall be disposed of within a period of five (5) years or reduced to a book value of one dollar ($1.00). Any real estate acquired as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall be carried in the bank statement at such sound values as may be approved by the state comptroller, not to exceed its cost to the bank, and shall be sold within five years after the title thereto is acquired; unless the consent of the state comptroller is obtained in writing, extending such period; provided, however, no such extension shall be for more than five years. If any such real estate is not sold within the time herein limited, or within the time as extended by the state comptroller, it shall not thereafter be carried as a book asset of the bank in excess of one dollar ($1.00). It is not the purpose of other real estate acquired under subsections (b) and (c) of this section to be treated as part of the fifty percentum (50%) of net capital recited in the first paragraph of this section.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-89 Limitations upon acceptances.

A state bank may accept drafts or bills of exchange drawn upon it having not more than six (6) months’ sight to run, exclusive of days of grace, which grew out of transactions involving the shipment of goods, provided shipping documents conveying or securing title are attached as security at the time of acceptance of such drafts and bills of exchange or which are secured at the time of acceptance by warehouse receipts or other such documents conveying or securing title covering readily marketable staples not subject to rapid deterioration. No bank shall accept bills for any one person, company, firm or corporation to an amount equal at any time in the aggregate to more than ten per centum of its paid-up and unimpaired capital stock and surplus; and no such bank shall accept such bills to an amount equal at any time in the aggregate to more than one-half of its paid-up and unimpaired capital and surplus.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-91 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1998, ch. 392, § 3, eff from and after passage (approved March 17, 1998). [Codes, 1942, § 5220; Laws, 1934, ch. 146; 1968, ch. 253, § 1, eff from and after July 1, 1970]

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-93 Clearinghouse associations authorized.

Banks or banking institutions in any municipality or county or counties in this state may organize and establish clearinghouse associations, composed of such banks and banking institutions as may become members thereof, by voluntary action for the purpose of effecting daily settlements and exchanges by and between the associate banks, the payment or settlements at such clearinghouse of daily balances between such members resulting from exchanges, payment of checks and other orders of money and for the purpose of making provision for the proper conduct and management of the banking operations of such municipality or county or counties, and of the members of such association. Such clearinghouse associations may or may not be incorporated. If incorporated, a clearinghouse association shall be organized as a corporation without capital stock and not organized for profit or gain and the stock thereof may be held by the member banks, each such member bank being entitled to hold not more than one (1) share therein.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-95 Powers of clearinghouse associations.

Clearinghouse associations, by the action of the members thereof, shall have the power to adopt and enact rules, regulations and bylaws providing: (a) for officers and business agents of such clearinghouse association, and for the maintenance of same; (b) for the conduct of the affairs and business of the association; (c) for the settlement of differences or controversies between members thereof relating to banking transactions; (d) for aid from such clearinghouse association or the members thereof to any bank or member which may become involved or embarrassed; (e) to collect dues and payments as fixed by the bylaws or regulations from members thereof, for any of the purposes of such association; (f) to advance moneys or loans to any member, on deposit of collateral or other securities; (g) to provide uniform charges for collections or orders, for uniform rates of exchange and discounts provided or required by the general laws of the State of Mississippi, and for service charged upon unprofitable accounts, and for handling checks drawn against insufficient funds; (h) and generally to have all other powers usual and customary for clearinghouse associations, to encourage a faithful and honest administration of banking trusts and public duties, to aid in the preservation of public credit and of confidence in the financial system and conditions of the State of Mississippi, and the business communities thereof. All rates, rules, regulations and bylaws promulgated must, before becoming effective, receive the approval of the state comptroller. Discretionary power is vested in the state comptroller to supervise all rates, rules, regulations and bylaws.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-97 Banking hours.

The commissioner of banking and consumer finance may, from time to time, adopt and promulgate rules regulating banking hours, and such rules shall have all the force and effect of law. In addition thereto, the commissioner may permit a bank to close its doors for business at such time or times during the week as the commissioner determines will not prevent the rendering of proper and reasonable banking service to the community and trade area in which the bank is located. The commissioner shall not authorize any bank to close for more than one whole day during any week, state and federal legal holidays and Sundays excepted; provided, however, that in the event any state or federal legal holiday shall fall on a Saturday, then the commissioner may permit banks to observe the preceding Friday as a legal holiday, or if such holiday shall fall on Sunday, then the commissioner may permit banks to observe the next following Monday as a legal holiday.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-98 Drive-in teller windows and branch offices considered to be branch banks.

Drive-in teller windows and branch offices in operation on July 1, 1986, shall on such date, and thereafter, be considered branch banks for the purpose of applying the branching provisions of this chapter and are authorized to continue operating as branch banks.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-99 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1986, ch. 469, § 14, eff from and after July 1, 1986. [Codes, 1942, § 5224.3; Laws, 1964, ch. 224, § 1; 1972, ch. 318, § 1]

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-100 Establishment of electronic banking terminals.

For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the meaning herein described unless the context shall otherwise require: “Electronic terminal” means an unmanned electronic device owned or operated by a federally insured bank or thrift through which a consumer may initiate an electronic fund transfer. “Electronic fund transfer” means any of the following: The withdrawal of cash from or the deposit of cash or checks into an unmanned electronic device, such as an automatic teller machine, but not including night depositories; An application for or acceptance of a loan through use of an unmanned electronic device; The transfer of funds between accounts through use of an unmanned electronic device; or The issuance of a check by an unmanned electronic device. “Electronic fund transfer” does not mean access to accounts, the application for or acceptance of a loan, the transfer of funds between accounts or other banking services accomplished through the use of a personal computer or telephone. A state bank or thrift, with the approval of the Commissioner of Banking and Consumer Finance, may establish electronic terminals. A bank desiring to establish such an electronic terminal shall file with the commissioner a written application requesting authority to establish such a terminal. Upon receipt of such application, the commissioner shall make inquiry into the facts sufficient to enable him to determine whether or not the proposed electronic terminal will provide bank customers with convenient access to the electronic transfer of funds. If the commissioner’s finding is favorable to the application, he shall grant the applicant a written permit to establish the terminal. These rights are extended to national banks upon the approval of the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States of America. For the use of its electronic terminals connected to sharing networks or systems, a bank may impose a fee if imposition of the fee is disclosed at a time and in a manner that allows a user to terminate or cancel the transaction without incurring the transaction fee. Such fee shall not exceed Two Dollars ($2.00) or four percent (4%) of the gross amount of the transaction, whichever is greater. An agreement to share electronic terminals shall not prohibit, limit or restrict the right of a bank to charge such fees for the use of its electronic terminals as allowed by state or federal law, or require a bank to limit or waive its rights or obligations under this section.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-101 Dissolution of solvent banks.

When the owners of two-thirds of the capital stock of any solvent corporation engaged in a banking business shall have determined and voted to dissolve the corporation, they shall proceed in the following manner, to-wit: The corporation shall advise the department of bank supervision by registered mail, over the signature of the board of directors of said corporation, of their intention to liquidate, accompanied by a certified copy of the minutes of the stockholders meeting authorizing the liquidation, and shall cause notice to be published once each week for three consecutive weeks in some newspaper published within the county in which the corporation is domiciled, giving the date of the proposed liquidation, and calling on all creditors and depositors to present for payment their claims against such corporation not later than sixty days after said date of liquidation. With said notice to the department of bank supervision the corporation shall file a detailed statement of its assets and liabilities. The stockholders of the corporation shall, by and with the approval of the state comptroller appoint a special agent who shall have charge of said liquidation and shall be responsible to the creditors and stockholders of such corporation and to the department of bank supervision for the proper liquidation of the affairs of the corporation. The special agent shall furnish bond to be approved by the state comptroller for the faithful performance of his duties as special agent and shall receive as salary not more than $200.00 per month out of the assets of the liquidating bank while actively engaged in the liquidation of the affairs of the bank and shall be at all times under the supervision of the department of bank supervision. The certificate of appointment of the special agent shall be filed in the office of the department of bank supervision, and a certified copy filed in the office of the chancery clerk of the county in which the bank is domiciled. Upon the date set for the liquidation of the bank as per published notice the special agent shall take charge and file with the department of bank supervision a sworn detailed statement of the assets and liabilities of the bank as shown by the books of the same, a certified copy to be filed in the office of the chancery clerk of said county. He shall proceed to pay in full as presented all claims of creditors and depositors and shown by the books of the bank and all claims which may be proven against the bank. A sufficient bond to be approved by the state comptroller in such amount as he may require shall be furnished by the stockholders of the bank made and conditioned to insure the payment of all liabilities as shown by the books of the bank and all proven claims against the bank. The said bond shall be filed in the office of the department of bank supervision. Suit may be brought upon this bond by any creditor claimant, and such suit shall be filed in the chancery court of the county in which the corporation is domiciled. No suit may be brought upon such bond except within four months after date of liquidation as provided in paragraph (a) of this section. When any such suit shall be brought on said bond, notice shall be given by publication in a newspaper published in the county of the domicile of the bank, requiring all creditors and claimants to intervene in order to determine in one proceeding all claims of creditors. At the expiration of sixty days from the date of the liquidation as provided in paragraph (a) of this section, the special agent shall file with the department of bank supervision a detailed report of all his proceedings, collections and disbursements and list of all assets remaining and of all liabilities still unpaid or unclaimed, a certified copy of which shall be filed in the office of the chancery clerk of the county. A list of all unclaimed deposits or creditors as shown by the books together with the amounts due them, shall be delivered in cash, to the department of bank supervision to be deposited by the state comptroller in some bank subject to their order for payment upon presentation of claims by said depositors or creditors. The remaining assets of the bank may be distributed among the stockholders, provided the stockholders shall make sufficient bond approved by the state comptroller in amounts of the capital, surplus and undivided profits of the banks, payable to the State of Mississippi, said bond to expire four months from the date of liquidation as provided in paragraph (a) of this section, if no claim or suit has been filed against such bond. At the expiration of this bond the state comptroller shall give notice by publication for three consecutive weeks in some local or county newspaper of the expiration of said bond, and the said bond shall be relieved from further liability, and the stockholders of the corporation shall be relieved from further liability as stockholders of such corporation.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-103 General penalty.

Any banker, officer, employee, director or agent of any state bank who shall knowingly or wilfully neglect to perform any duty required by law, where no other penalty is provided or who shall fail to conform to any lawful requirement made by the department of bank supervision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00 or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. And each officer or employee of the department of bank supervision who shall wilfully fail to perform any duty required by law, where no other penalty is prescribed, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00 or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-105 Standard of care for bank directors established.

Bank and bank holding company officers and directors shall be deemed to stand in a fiduciary relationship to their bank or bank holding company and its stockholders and shall discharge the duties of their respective positions in good faith and with that diligence, care, judgment and skill as provided in subsection (2) of this section. Nothing contained in this section shall derogate from any indemnification authorized by either state or federal law. A director or officer of a bank or bank holding company shall not be held personally liable to the corporation or its successor, or the shareholders thereof, for monetary damages unless the director or officer acted in a grossly negligent manner as defined in subsection (5) of this section or engaged in conduct which demonstrates a greater disregard of the duty of care than gross negligence, such as intentional tortious conduct or intentional breach of his duty of loyalty or intentional commission of corporate waste. A director of a bank or bank holding company shall, in the performance of his duties, be fully protected in relying in good faith on the records of the bank or bank holding company and in relying in good faith upon information, opinions, reports or statements presented to him, to the bank or bank holding company, to the board of directors or to any committee thereof by any of the bank’s or bank holding company’s officers or employees or by any committee of the board of directors, or by any counsel, appraiser, engineer or independent or certified public accountant selected with reasonable care by the board of directors or any committee thereof or by any officer having the authority to make such selection or by any other person as to matters the director in good faith believes are within such selected person’s professional or expert competence, such person having been selected in good faith by the board of directors or any committee thereof or any officer having the authority to make such selection. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the provisions of this section are the sole and exclusive law governing the relation and liability of directors and officers to their bank or bank holding company, or their successor, or to the shareholders thereof, or to any other person or entity. The provisions of this section shall be retroactive. As used in this section, the term “gross negligence” means a reckless disregard of, or a carelessness amounting to gross indifference to, the best interests of the bank or bank holding company or the shareholders thereof, and involves a substantial deviation below the standard of care expected to be maintained by a reasonably careful person under like circumstances. The provisions of this section shall not affect the application of common law or any other statute relating to the duties of officers and directors of other corporate entities.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-151 Definitions.

For purposes of Sections 81-5-151 and 81-5-153, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed herein, unless the context requires otherwise: “Bank” shall have the same definition as set forth in Section 81-3-1 and shall include the bank holding company, affiliates, and subsidiaries of a bank. “Self-assessment” means a voluntary, self-initiated internal assessment, audit or review of a bank, its practices, policies and procedures or the bank’s review of a facility or activity at a facility acting under contract as the bank’s service provider, including, but not limited to, mortgage servicers and sub-servicers, credit and debit card processors, and providers of loan document systems. “Self-assessment report” means any document, including any audit, report, finding, communication or opinion or any draft of an audit, report, finding, communication or opinion, prepared by internal personnel or by outside attorneys, accountants or consultants as a part of or in connection with a self-assessment that is made in good faith, and which report is not published outside the bank unless publication is made to bank regulators or to third parties acting pursuant to an agreement to preserve its confidentiality. Such agreement to preserve confidentiality need not be in writing and may be evidenced by an indication of confidentiality on the face of any such self-assessment report, or by a verbal agreement regarding its confidentiality. “Bank regulators” means any state, federal or municipal governmental agency, bureau, commission, office or other governmental entity charged with the regulation and/or supervision of a bank or regulation or supervision of any activity in which a bank may be engaged. The term shall include, but is not limited to, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Fair Trade Commission, and the Mississippi Department of Consumer Finance and Banking. “Banking law” means any federal, state or local statute, rule or regulation affecting or governing a bank or any activity in which a bank is or may be engaged, or any order, award, agreement, release, permit, license, standard or notice or issued by a federal, state or local court, agency, or governmental authority in pursuance thereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 81-5-153 Discovery and admissibility in evidence of self-evaluation reports of depository financial institutions; divulgence or dissemination of information in reports; exemption from Public Records Act.

A self-assessment report is privileged and is not admissible in any legal or investigative action in any civil or administrative proceeding andis not subject to any discovery under the rules of civil procedure or administrative procedure, unless: The bank, irrespective of whether the self-assessment was conducted and/or prepared by a private contractor hired by the bank, expressly waives the protections of this section; or The court of record or hearing officer, who shall be neutral and independent, after an in camera review, determines that: The self-assessment report shows that the bank is not or was not in substantial compliance with a material provision of banking law, and The bank did not initiate good-faith efforts to achieve substantial compliance with a material provision of banking law within a reasonable time after the noncompliance was discovered, and The bank’s failure to comply caused material harm to a bank customer or consumer. For purposes of subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph (b) only, if the evidence shows noncompliance by the bank, the bank may demonstrate that appropriate efforts to achieve compliance were or are being taken by establishing a phased schedule of actions to be taken to bring the bank into compliance, and those efforts shall protect the bank’s self-assessment report(s) from disclosure. The court of record or a hearing officer, who shall be neutral and independent, after an in camera review, determines that the privilege is being asserted for a fraudulent purpose or that the self-assessment report was prepared to avoid disclosure of information in an investigative, administrative or judicial proceeding that was underway at the time of its preparation, or for which the bank had been provided written notification that an investigation into a specific violation had been initiated, or it is found that a condition exists that demonstrates imminent and substantial harm to bank customers or consumers. The self-evaluation privilege does not apply to: Information in the possession of a regulatory agency obtained through observation, sampling, examination or otherwise and which is subject to public disclosure under the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983; or Information obtained through any source independent of the self-assessment report and which was not protected by a confidentiality agreement; or Evidence existing before the commencement of and independent of the voluntary self-assessment, which is not protected by a confidentiality agreement and is not related to a request for compliance assistance from bank regulators. Upon a showing by any party, based upon independent knowledge, that probable cause exists to believe that an exception to the self-assessment privilege under subsection (1) of this section is applicable to a self-assessment report or that privilege does not apply to a self-assessment report under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, then a court record or hearing officer, who shall be neutral and independent, may allow that party limited access to the self-assessment report for the purposes of an in-camera review only. The court of record or the hearing officer may grant limited access to all or part of the self-assessment under the provisions of this subsection (3) upon such conditions as may be necessary to protect the confidentiality of the self-assessment report. A moving party who obtains access to a self-assessment report under the provisions of this subsection (3) may not divulge any information from the report except as specifically allowed by the court or hearing officer. If any party divulges all or any part of the information contained in a self-assessment report in violation of the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (3) or if any other person knowingly divulges or disseminates all or any part of the information contained in a self-assessment report that was provided to the person in violation of the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (3), the party or other person is liable for any damages caused by the divulgence or dissemination of the information that are incurred by the bank. The court or hearing officer may issue such contempt orders and sanctions against the offending party or such party’s legal counsel as may be necessary to ensure compliance. Nothing in this section limits, waives or abrogates the scope or nature of any statutory or common law privilege. A bank asserting a self-assessment privilege has the burden of proving a prima facie case as to the privilege. A party seeking disclosure of a self-assessment report has the burden of proving that such a privilege does not exist under this section. All self-assessment reports that are protected by the self-assessment privilege created by this section shall be privileged and exempt from the provisions of the Mississippi Public Records Act in accordance with Section 25-61-11.
Source: Public.Resource.Org MS CodeURL: https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-ms/transforms/ms/ocms/r78/gov.ms.code.title.81.htmlFetched: 6/10/2026

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