The 2003 session of the Connecticut General Assembly adjourned at the end of last month, and several bills passed that will affect the banking industry.
Many of the bills already have been signed by Governor John G. Rowland, but some are still awaiting his approval.
One such bill is House Bill 6498, which passed both the House and Senate in early June. The bill was created to provide financial support for smaller community-based banks in the state in order to enhance their ability to invest in local communities and provide access to banking services for underserved markets within the service areas for which they are chartered to do business.
Senate Bill 985, which is also awaiting a signature from the governor, addresses bank and credit union transactions. The bill works to update the application and examination fees charged by the Department of Banking. It also permits branch consolidations and simplifies the procedures for branch and main office relocations and the establishment of certain branches by requiring notice to the banking commissioner instead of an application.
Additionally, the bill clarifies and eliminates overlap in the provisions concerning the sale of assets of Connecticut-charted banks and credit unions.
S.985 also authorizes Connecticut credit unions to establish and close mobile branches, and requires the commissioner’s approval for an out-of-state credit union’s expansion of its field of membership in Connecticut. Finally, the bill includes a provision regarding the effective date of a merger involving a Connecticut credit union.
Senate Bill 984, which was signed by the governor earlier in June, works to update the bonding requirements of the Money Transmission Act and exempt Connecticut-chartered banks and credit unions from licensure under the act, regardless of whether they are federally insured. The bill also provides that the notice of right to cancel certain insurance products required by the high-cost home loan provisions be in printed in a font larger than 12-point and be sent separately to the borrower by mail.
Also affecting the Department of Banking, Senate Bill 982 was passed to allow the commissioner and department employees to invest in mutual funs, pension funds, deferred compensations plans or other investments in which an employee does not control which securities are held in the portfolio without inadvertently violating the restrictions of financial interests. This includes a holding company that has a wholly owned subsidiary that is a capital stock Connecticut bank in the list of prohibited financial interests.
S.982, which has been signed by Rowland, also effectively changes the title of the department head of the Department of Banking from the “Commissioner of Banking” to “Banking Commissioner,” whenever it appears in the general statues to save money by conforming the commissioner’s official name to the name as it appears on the Department of Banking’s seal.
House Bill 5371, which was signed by Rowland, makes it illegal for an individual’s membership in a military reserve unit or being called into active duty to adversely affect the individual’s ability to obtain mortgage financing.
