FINANCE CODE
CHAPTER 89. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO SAVINGS AND LOAN
ASSOCIATIONS
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
§ 89.001. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER 4, BUSINESS &
COMMERCE CODE. Chapter 4, Business & Commerce Code, applies to an
association with respect to an item paid, collected, settled,
negotiated, or otherwise handled by the association for a customer.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
§ 89.002. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OR PROOF TAKEN BY MEMBER,
STOCKHOLDER, OR EMPLOYEE OF ASSOCIATION. A public officer who is
qualified to take an acknowledgment or proof of a written
instrument and who is a member or employee of, or a shareholder in,
an association or federal association is not disqualified because
of that relationship to the association or federal association from
taking an acknowledgment or proof of a written instrument in which
an association or federal association is interested.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
§ 89.003. RENDITION OF CERTAIN PERSONAL PROPERTY FOR AD
VALOREM TAXATION. (a) Each association and each federal
association shall render for ad valorem taxation all of its
personal property, other than furniture, fixtures, equipment, and
automobiles, as a whole at the value remaining after deducting the
following from the total value of its entire assets:
(1) all debts that it owes;
(2) all tax-free securities that it owns;
(3) its loss reserves and surplus;
(4) its savings liability; and
(5) the appraised value of its furniture, fixtures,
and real property.
(b) The association or federal association shall render the
personal property, other than furniture, fixtures, equipment, and
automobiles, to the chief appraiser of the appraisal district in
the county in which its principal office is located.
(c) Furniture, fixtures, equipment, and automobiles of an
association or federal association shall be rendered and valued for
ad valorem taxation as provided by the Tax Code.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
§ 89.004. INITIATION OF RULEMAKING BY
ASSOCIATIONS. The finance commission shall initiate rulemaking
proceedings if at least 20 percent of the associations petition the
finance commission in writing requesting the adoption, amendment,
or repeal of a rule.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended
by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 867, § 32, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
§ 89.005. EXEMPTION FROM SECURITIES LAWS. A savings
account, certificate, or other evidence of an interest in the
savings liability of an association or federal association is not
considered a security under The Securities Act (Article 581-1 et
seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). A security of these
associations, other than an interest in the savings liability of an
association, is not subject to the registration requirements of
that act. A person whose principal occupation is being an officer
of an association is exempt from the registration and licensing
provisions of that act with respect to that person's participation
in a sale or other transaction involving securities of the
association of which the person is an officer.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
§ 89.006. LIABILITY OF COMMISSIONER AND OTHER COMMISSION
PERSONNEL; DEFENSE BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. (a) The commissioner, a
member of the finance commission, a deputy commissioner, an
examiner, or any other officer or employee of the Savings and Loan
Department is not personally liable for damages arising from the
person's official act or omission unless the act or omission is
corrupt or malicious.
(b) The attorney general shall defend an action brought
against a person described by Subsection (a) because of the
person's official act or omission without regard to whether the
person is an officer or employee of the department at the time the
action is instituted.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
§ 89.007. ASSOCIATION AUTHORIZED TO CONDUCT SAVINGS AND
LOAN BUSINESS UNDER PRIOR LAW NOW SUBJECT TO SUBTITLE. (a) An
association or corporation that was authorized to conduct a
building and loan association, savings and loan association,
building society, or other similar business before January 1, 1964,
and that has substantially the same purpose as a savings and loan
association is subject to this subtitle. The name, rights, powers,
privileges, and immunities of each of those associations or
corporations are governed, construed, extended, and limited by this
subtitle to the same extent and effect as if the association or
corporation had been incorporated under this subtitle.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d) and
notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the entity's
certificate of incorporation, bylaws, constitution, or rules, each
association or corporation described by Subsection (a) has the
rights, powers, privileges, and immunities conferred by this
subtitle and is subject to the duties, liabilities, and
restrictions imposed by this subtitle.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the articles of
association, certificate of incorporation, or charter and the
bylaws, constitutions, or other rules of each of those associations
or corporations are:
(1) considered modified and amended to conform to this
subtitle, regardless of whether the commissioner has issued or
approved a conformed copy of the document; and
(2) void to the extent that the document is
inconsistent with this subtitle.
(d) The obligations existing on January 1, 1964, of each
association or corporation described by Subsection (a), including
an obligation between the entity and one or more of its members and
between the entity and any other person, are not impaired by this
subtitle. Any valid contract existing on January 1, 1964, either
between the members of the entity or between the entity and any
other person, is not impaired by this subtitle. An association is
not required to change its name.
(e) An association or corporation described by Subsection
(a) may enforce in its name any contractual obligation of the
association or corporation incurred before January 1, 1964. A
demand, claim, or right of action against the association or
corporation may be enforced against the association or corporation
as fully and completely as it might have been enforced before
January 1, 1964.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
§ 89.008. OFFICES OF FEDERAL ASSOCIATIONS. A federal
association that has been merged, consolidated, or converted into a
domestic or foreign savings bank or association is entitled to
retain any authorized office under the terms provided for a foreign
savings bank under Subchapter I, Chapter 92.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, § 7.31(a), eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
SUBCHAPTER B. ACCESS TO AND DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION
§ 89.051. ACCESS TO BOOKS AND RECORDS OF
ASSOCIATION. (a) The books and records of an association may be
examined only by:
(1) the commissioner or the commissioner's
representative in accordance with Sections 66.051, 66.053, and
66.054;
(2) a person authorized to act for the association;
(3) an agent of a governmental agency that has insured
the savings accounts of the association; or
(4) a borrower or savings account holder of the
association, in accordance with Subsection (b).
(b) A borrower or savings account holder of an association
is entitled to examine only the books and records of the association
that pertain to the person's loan or savings account.
(c) A person is entitled to a partial or complete list of the
stockholders of a stock association or of the members of a mutual
association only if expressly permitted by the association's board.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
§ 89.052. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION HELD BY DEPARTMENT
ABOUT AN ASSOCIATION; LIABILITY. (a) The commissioner and an
examiner, supervisor, conservator, liquidator, inspector, deputy,
assistant, clerk, or other employee of the Savings and Loan
Department who is appointed or acting under this subtitle shall be
removed from the person's position with the department if the
person:
(1) does not keep secret a fact or information about an
association obtained during an examination or because of the
person's official position, except when the public duty of the
person requires otherwise; or
(2) wilfully makes a false official report about the
condition of an association.
(b) A report of an examination made to the commissioner is
confidential and is not a public record or available for public
inspection, except:
(1) for good reason the commissioner may make the
report public; and
(2) a copy of the report may be furnished to the
Federal Home Loan Bank Board or to the Federal Home Loan Bank to
meet the requirements of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (12 U.S.C.
Section 1421 et seq.).
(c) When a supervisory order is issued under Chapter 66, the
commissioner shall report promptly to the finance commission and in
a closed meeting shall furnish any information about the
association or the person that is the subject of the order that the
commission members may require. Any information discussed in the
closed meeting is confidential.
(d) Unless this subtitle provides otherwise, this section
does not apply to any fact or information or to a report of an
investigation obtained or made by the commissioner or the
commissioner's staff in connection with an application for a
charter under this subtitle or with a hearing held by the
commissioner under this subtitle. The fact, information, or report
may be included in the record of the hearing.
(e) This section does not prevent the proper exchange of
information relating to associations with the representatives of
savings and loan departments of other states or any other
department, agency, or instrumentality of this or another state or
the United States if the commissioner determines the disclosure of
the information is necessary or proper to enforce the laws of this
or another state or the United States.
(f) An official who violates this section is liable to the
person injured by the disclosure of the secrets.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
SUBCHAPTER C. OFFENSES AND PENALTIES
§ 89.101. CRIMINAL SLANDER. (a) A person commits an
offense if the person, with intent to injure an association or a
federal association in this state:
(1) knowingly makes, utters, circulates, or transmits
to another person a statement that is untrue and derogatory to the
financial condition of the association or federal association; or
(2) counsels, aids, procures, or induces another
person to originate, make, utter, transmit, or circulate a
statement or rumor that is untrue and derogatory to the financial
condition of the association or federal association.
(b) An offense under Subsection (a) is punishable by:
(1) a fine not to exceed $2,500;
(2) imprisonment in the institutional division of the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice for not more than two years;
or
(3) both the fine and imprisonment.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
§ 89.102. GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. (a) The
commissioner may require an association that knowingly violates
this subtitle or a rule adopted under this subtitle to pay to the
Savings and Loan Department an administrative penalty not to exceed
$1,000 for each day that the violation occurs after notice of the
violation is given by the commissioner.
(b) On the commissioner's certification that an association
has not paid a penalty assessed under this section, the attorney
general may file suit to collect the penalty.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
