Authorization of Fiduciary Powers for Foreign Banking Corporations

Supervisory Procedure FB 103 (Statutory authority: Banking Law, § 201-b)

  • 103.1 General statement
  • 103.2 General criteria
  • 103.3 Application
  • 103.4 Application of other regulations

General Statement

Pursuant to the provisions of section 201-b of the Banking Law, the Superintendent is prepared to authorize a New York State-licensed branch or agency of a foreign banking corporation to exercise any or all of the powers specified in sections 100, 100-a, 100-b and100-c of the Banking Law, in accordance with applicable law. 

General Criteria

In passing upon an application pursuant to section 201-b of the Banking Law, the superintendent will consider, in addition to any other facts or circumstances deemed proper, the following:

  • (a) the financial condition of the applicant; 
  • (b) the qualifications and experience of the proposed officer or officers of the trust operation, and the nature of the supervision to be exercised over the fiduciary activities; 
  • (c) the type or types of fiduciary activities proposed to be undertaken; and
  • (d) the plan of the applicant's trust operation, including information as to the manner in which legal, accounting, investment and record keeping functions of such operation are to be performed, and information as to any plans to obtain related services from outside sources. 

Application

An application for authority to exercise fiduciary powers shall be submitted in letter form and shall contain, in reasonable detail, information concerning the personnel and operations of the proposed trust operation as described in section 103.2(b)-(d) above. In addition, applicant shall furnish an opinion of counsel:

  • that the laws of the country in which the bank is incorporated, as well as the bank's articles of incorporation or similar document, empower the bank to engage in the type or types of fiduciary activities proposed to be undertaken;
  • that the bank has taken all necessary actions, corporate or otherwise, as are necessary to authorize the filing of such application and to permit its personnel to undertake fiduciary engagements in New York; and
  • that the written appointment of the superintendent as attorney for service of process, and the written designation relative thereto, having been filed with the superintendent pursuant to Banking Law, section 200(3), extend to transactions involving the bank as fiduciary.

Application Of Other Regulations

The provisions of Part 22 of this Title shall apply to any such licensee maintaining a common trust fund. The terms trust company and board of directors, as used in Part 22 of this Title, shall be deemed to refer to the trust operation of the licensed New York branch or agency and the board of directors of the licensee foreign banking corporation, respectively.