1401. Transaction of banking business not authorized by law-Unauthorized use of words bank, bankers, etc.-Unlawful use of trust or trust company-Injunction-Appointment of receiver-Secretary of State-Filing requirements. [Back]

A. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation to receive money upon deposit or transact a banking business except as authorized by the laws of this state or of the United States, or to use or advertise, in connection with any business other than the banking business, conducted under the banking laws of this state or the savings and loan business conducted under the savings and loan laws of this state, the words: Banc, Bank, Banker, Bankers, Bankque, Investment Banker, or any derivative thereof, however spelled, or any other word or term which in the discretion of the Commissioner is determined to deceive the public into belief that such person, firm, association or corporation is engaged in the banking business or savings and loan business. Any person, firm, association or corporation violating any of the provisions of this section, either individually or as an interested party, in any firm, association or corporation, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Commissioner, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not less than Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00), nor more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) per violation, or by imprisonment in the county jail not less than thirty (30) days or more than one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and it is hereby made the duty of the Attorney General to enforce the provisions of this section.

B. Unlawful use of trust or trust company.. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation except state banks having trust powers, national banking associations located in this state and having trust powers and trust companies incorporated under the laws of this state and having trust powers to use or advertise the word "Trust" or "Trust Company" or any derivative thereof, however spelled, in the conduct of their business in a manner which in the discretion of the Commissioner is determined to deceive the public into belief that such person, firm, association or corporation has been authorized to transact business as a regulated financial institution and no firm, association or corporation hereafter organized under any other act shall use the word "Trust" or "Trust Company" as a part of its name. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the continued use of such words by any banking corporation which is using such words as of the effective date of this act. Any person, firm, association or corporation violating any of the provisions of this section, either individually or as an interested party, in any firm, association or corporation, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Commissioner.

C. Injunction-Appointment of receiver. In order to further prevent the violation of this section, any court of competent jurisdiction in this state is hereby authorized and empowered to grant an injunction and, if requested by the Commissioner, to appoint a receiver to take charge of the business and assets of any person, firm, association or corporation reasonably believed by the Commissioner to be violating the provisions of this section, and to make all necessary and proper orders to wind up such business and prevent a violation of Section 1401 of this title.

D. Secretary of State-Filing requirements The Secretary of State is prohibited from accepting any document for filing which includes the words Banc, Bank, Banker, Bankers, Banque, Investment Banker, Trust, Trust Company, or any derivative thereof, however spelled, unless the Commissioner has given written consent thereto.

1403. Unlawful use of words "safe deposit" [Back]

It is unlawful for any person to use the words "safe deposit," "safety deposit" or other words deceptively similar thereto, in connection with the rental of storage space, or in the title or name under which business was done, unless the person is:

1. a person subject to the jurisdiction of the Banking Department of this state;

2. a manufacturer or dealer in safe deposit facilities or equipment; or

3. an association, the membership of which is composed of officers or institutions subject to the jurisdiction of the Banking Department of this or other states.

1405. Unlawful gratuity or compensation-Transactions of persons connected with bank [Back]

A. It shall be unlawful for an affiliate of a bank or trust company or for an officer, director or employee of a bank or trust company or affiliate of a bank or trust company:

1. To solicit, accept or agree to accept, directly or indirectly, from any person other than the institution any gratuity, compensation or other personal benefit for any action taken by the institution or for endeavoring to procure any such action; or

2. To have any interest, directly or indirectly, in the proceeds of a loan or of a purchase or sale made by the bank, unless such loan is otherwise permissible, and the purchase or sale is expressly authorized by this Code or by rule of the Board and, unless otherwise directed in writing by the Commissioner, is specifically approved by vote of a majority of the board of directors of the bank or trust company. Provided, no interested director or trustee shall take part in such vote.

B. In this section the term "affiliate" shall include:

1. Any person who holds a majority of the stock of a bank or has been determined by the Board to hold a controlling interest therein, any other corporation in which such person owns a majority of the stock and any partnership in which the person has an interest;

2. Any corporation in which the institution or an officer, director or employee thereof holds a majority of the stock and any partnership in which such person has an interest; or

3. Any corporation of which a majority of the directors are officers, directors or employees of the institution or of which officer, directors, trustees or employees constitute a majority of the directors of the institution.

1406. Receipt of deposit after notification of insolvency [Back]

It shall be unlawful for a bank to receive any deposit after the bank has been notified by its primary regulator that it is insolvent or for an officer, director or employee who knows or, in the proper performance of his duty, should know of the notification of such insolvency to receive or authorize the receipt of such deposit, if such deposit, when aggregated together with other funds held by the depositor in the same right and capacity, would exceed the limit of federal deposit insurance coverage.

1407. Unlawful service as officer or director [Back]

It is unlawful for any person to serve as an officer or director of a bank who:

(1) has been convicted of an offense constituting in the jurisdiction in which the conviction was rendered a violation of the banking laws, a felony involving dishonesty or a breach of trust.

(2) is indebted to the bank for more than thirty (30) days upon a judgment that has become final.

1408. Unlawful service as Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Administrative Assistant, Assistant Bank Commissioner [Back]

It shall be a criminal offense for any person to serve as Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Administrative Assistant or Assistant Commissioner, of the Department who has been convicted of an offense constituting, in the jurisdiction in which the conviction was had, a violation of the banking laws, a felony involving dishonesty or a breach of trust.

1409. Unlawful concealment of transactions [Back]

It shall be unlawful for an officer, director, employee, attorney, or agent of a bank or trust company to conceal or endeavor to conceal any transaction of the bank or trust company from any officer, director or employee of the bank or trust company or any official or employee of the Department to whom it should be properly disclosed.

1410. Improper maintenance of accounts-False or deceptive entries and statements [Back]

It shall be unlawful for an officer, director, employee or agent of a bank or trust company:

(1) to maintain or authorize the maintenance of any account of the bank or trust company in a manner which, to his knowledge, does not conform to the requirements prescribed by this Code or by the Commissioner or the Board.

(2) with intent to deceive, to make any false or misleading statement or entry or omit any statement or entry that should be made in any book, account, report or statement of the institution.

(3) to obstruct or endeavor to obstruct a lawful examination of the institution by an officer or employee of the Department.

1411. Unlawful payment of penalties and judgments against others, including directors and officers [Back]

It shall be unlawful for a bank or trust company to pay a fine or penalty imposed by law upon any other person or any judgment against such person or to reimburse directly or indirectly any person by whom such fine, penalty or judgment has been paid, except in settlement of its own liability or in connection with the acquisition of property against which such judgment is a lien, or as provided in Section 68 of Enrolled House Bill No. 2173 of the 1st Session of the 46th Oklahoma Legislature.

1412. Embezzlement or misapplication of funds [Back]

It shall be a criminal offense for any officer, director, shareholder or employee of any bank or trust company to directly or indirectly embezzle, abstract, or misapply, or cause to be embezzled, abstracted or misapplied, any of the funds or securities or other property of or under the control of the bank or trust company with intent to deceive, injure, cheat, wrong, or defraud any bank, trust company or person.

1413. Libel and slander [Back]

It shall be unlawful for any person to publish, utter, or circulate any false, malicious, unprivileged statement or representation for the purpose of injuring any banking institution or credit union chartered, existing and doing business within the State of Oklahoma, under and by virtue of the laws of this state, or under and by virtue of the laws of the United States of America.

1414. Criminal sanctions, violations of rules and orders-Nonapplicability where criminal sanctions imposed in other sections of Code [Back]

A. Any person responsible for an act or omission expressly declared to be unlawful or a criminal offense by this Code shall be guilty:

(1) of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one (1) year or a fine not exceeding Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), or both.

(2) if the act or omission was intended to defraud, of a felony punishable by imprisonment not exceeding five (5) years or a fine not exceeding One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), or both.

B. An officer, director, employee, agent or attorney of a bank or trust company shall be responsible for an act or omission of the institution declared to be a criminal offense against this Code whenever, knowing that such act or omission is unlawful, he participates in authorizing, executing, ratifying or concealing such act, or in authorizing or ratifying such omission or, having a duty to take the required action, omits to do so.

A director shall be deemed to participate in any action of which he has knowledge taken or omitted to be taken by the board of which he is a member unless he dissents therefrom in writing and promptly notifies the Commissioner of his dissent.

C. It shall be a criminal offense against this Code to violate any lawful order of the Board or Commissioner, served upon it, or to knowingly violate any lawful rule, regulation or order of the Board or Commissioner.

The Commissioner may refer evidence concerning violations of this Code or of any rule or order thereunder to the Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma or to the district attorney for the county where a violation occurred in order that an information or indictment for such violations may be filed. The Attorney General or district attorney may designate and appoint a lawyer of the Department as special assistant, if available, for the purpose of assisting in or conducting criminal prosecutions arising because of the proceedings provided for in this section.

D. Unless otherwise provided in this Code, it shall be no defense to a criminal prosecution hereunder that the defendant did not know the facts establishing the criminal character of the act or omission charged if he could and should have known such facts in the proper performance of his duty.

E. This section shall not apply to specific offenses for which criminal sanctions have been imposed in other sections of this Code.

1415. Injunction [Back]

A. Whenever a violation of this Code by a bank or an officer, director or employee thereof is threatened or impending and will cause substantial injury to the institution or to the depositors, creditors, or stockholders thereof, the district court of the county in which the bank is located shall, upon the suit of the Commissioner, issue an injunction restraining such violation.

B. Whenever any corporation, not authorized to carry on a trust business under this Code, shall falsely act as a trust company, or shall use an artificial or corporate name implying or inferring it is a trust company, the district court of the county in which lawful service is obtained shall, upon suit of the Commissioner, issue an injunction restraining such act.

C. All orders of the Commissioner and the Board shall be enforced by the district court of the district of domicile of the person or persons to whom the order is directed.

1416. Prohibitions relating to control of banks-Remedies [Back]

A. No bank holding company shall control a bank unless the bank is one such as is defined in Section 2(c) of the federal Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended.

B. No company that is not a bank holding company shall control a bank.

C. In addition to other remedies provided for by law, the Commissioner may enforce the provisions of this section by:

1. injunction; or

2. cease and desist order; or

3. fine.

1417. Advertisement of confusingly similar names or shortened names-Use of former name of acquired institution or office-Commissioner's remedies-Injunctions-Nonconforming previous use or advertisement [Back]

A. It is unlawful for any bank or out-of-state bank having a confusingly similar name to advertise its name in Oklahoma including without limitation by means of outdoor signage, newspaper, radio, television, billboards, bulk mailings, and other solicitations to persons who are not customers of the bank unless the advertising also conspicuously identifies the city or town where that bank has its main office. This subsection shall not apply to a bank's advertising through local media.

B. It is unlawful for any bank having a full legal name which is not a confusingly similar name to use a shortened name for purposes of advertising within Oklahoma including without limitation on outdoor signage, newspaper, radio, television, billboards, bulk mailings, and other solicitations to persons who are not customers of the bank if that shortened name would be a confusingly similar name and if such advertising does not also conspicuously identify the city or town where that bank has its main office. This subsection shall not apply to a bank's advertising through local media.

C. It shall be unlawful for any bank which acquires another bank or other financial institution for one or more of its offices or branches, by merger, purchase and assumption or otherwise, to continue to use the former name of the acquired institution or office, or similar name, for more than six (6) months after the date of acquisition, either on outdoor signage or in other advertising, unless such name is the legal name of the resulting bank. Nothing contained in this subsection shall prohibit an acquiring bank from using a variation of the former name as a branch title if such variation is at all times used only in combination with the name of the acquiring bank including the town or city where that bank has its main office and the word "branch" on any outdoor signage or in other advertising.

D. It shall be unlawful for any person which is not a bank to use or advertise a confusingly similar name within the State of Oklahoma.

E. The Commissioner may issue an order in accordance with Section 204 of this title to any Oklahoma chartered bank or bank registered pursuant to Section 104 of this title, ordering such bank to cease violating the provisions of this section. This remedy shall be in addition to and not exclusive of the remedy provided in subsection F of this section.

F. Whenever any bank or other person shall use or advertise a name in violation of this section, the district court from which lawful service is obtained shall, upon suit by the Commissioner or any injured person, issue an injunction restraining such use or advertisement. Provided, that the Commissioner shall be deemed to be a necessary party to any suit brought pursuant to this section and any suit brought by the Commissioner pursuant to this section shall be properly brought as to both jurisdiction and venue, when brought in a county where the office of the Commissioner is located.

G. Advertisements which were in conformance with this section prior to April 29, 1991, but are not now in conformance with subsection A and B of this section will not be considered to be in violation of the law. This subsection shall not be interpreted to allow any bank to begin the advertisement of a confusingly similar name which it had not previously used or advertised prior to April 29, 1991, but shall only serve to protect the advertisement of such names as are in lawful use of April 29, 1991.

11418. Unlawful use of lender’s name by third party [Back]

A.  As used in this section, “lender” means a bank, savings and loan association, savings bank, credit union, finance company, mortgage bank, mortgage broker and any affiliate.

B.  No person shall include the name, trade name or trademark of a lender or a name, trade name or trademark similar to that of a lender in a solicitation for products or services without the consent of the lender unless the solicitation clearly and conspicuously states in bold-faced type on the front page of the correspondence that the person is not sponsored by or affiliated with a lender and that the solicitation is not authorized by the lender, which shall be identified by name.  The statement shall include the name, address and telephone number of the person making the solicitation and that any loan information referenced was not provided by the lender.

C.  No person may include a loan number, loan amount or other specific loan information that is not publicly available in a solicitation for the purchase of products and services.

D.  No person may include a loan number, loan amount or other specific loan information that is publicly available in a solicitation for the purchase of products and services if use of such information is prohibited by this title.

E.  No person may include a loan number, loan amount or other specific loan information that is publicly available in a solicitation for the purchase of products and services and allowed by this title, unless the solicitation clearly and conspicuously states in bold-faced type on the front page of the correspondence that the person is not sponsored by or affiliated with the lender and that the solicitation is not authorized by the lender, which shall be identified by name.  The statement shall include the name, address and telephone number of the person making the solicitation and that any loan information referenced was not provided by the lender.

F.  No person shall make reference to an existing lender without the written consent of the lender or make reference to a loan number, loan amount or other specific loan information on the outside of an envelope, visible through the envelope window, or on a postcard in connection with any written communication that includes or contains a solicitation for products or services offered by the other lender.

G.  A lender or owner of a name, trade name or trademark may seek an injunction against a person who violates this section to stop the unlawful use of the name, trade name, trademark or loan information.  The person seeking the injunction shall not have to prove actual damages as a result of the violation.  Irreparable harm and interim harm to the lender or owner shall be presumed.  The lender or owner seeking the injunction may seek to recover actual damages and any profits the defendant has accrued as a result of the violation.  The prevailing party in any action brought pursuant to this section is entitled to recover costs associated with the action and reasonable attorney fees from the other party.

H.  The following are exempt from the provisions of this section:

1.  Any communications by a lender or its affiliates with a current customer of the lender or with a person who was a customer of the lender during the immediately preceding eighteen (18) months; and

2.  Any advertisement or solicitation by a lender for products or services that compares the products or services offered by another lender provided that the person making the comparison clearly and conspicuously identifies itself in the advertisement or solicitation.