Brief(1)
S.B. 240, as amended, revises the qualifications for the position of State Bank Commissioner and specifies that the position of Bank Commissioner is to be full time.
The bill establishes the experience requirements for the position of Bank Commissioner. A person must have at least five years' experience as an executive officer in a state or national bank located in Kansas. Current law allows only experience in a Kansas state-chartered bank.
The bill also prohibits the Bank Commissioner, while serving as Commissioner, from being an officer, voting director, employee, or paid consultant of any state or national bank or bank holding company, of any affiliate of a state or national bank or bank holding company, or of any other entity regulated by the Commissioner.
The House Committee amendments: specify that the five-years' experience required to serve as Commissioner be in a Kansas bank; delete experience as a state or federal regulator of banks as a qualification for the Commissioner position; and allow the Commissioner, while serving in that position, to be an unpaid consultant to any entity regulated by the Commissioner.
Background
S.B. 240, as amended, originated from the work of the interim Special Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance that reviewed the regulatory framework of financial institutions in Kansas. That committee recommended the standing committees continue exploring regulatory issues in the 1999 Session, including expanding the field of persons who might be eligible to serve as the Bank Commissioner. Additionally, the interim committee was concerned with the perception of a conflict of interest between the Commissioner and the banking community. S.B. 240, as amended, addresses the issues raised by the interim study.
The bill, as amended, is supported by the Kansas Bankers Association and the Community Bankers Association of Kansas.
The Office of the State Bank Commissioner indicates the bill has no fiscal impact.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html.