Brief(1)
Sub. for S.B. 260 amends several statutes relating to banks and banking and particularly to the role of the Bank Commissioner and the State Banking Board in regulating state banks and trust companies. Additionally, the bill amends several statutes concerning the structure and operation of the State Banking Board.
The bill transfers to the Bank Commissioner many of the functions previously reserved to the State Banking Board, including: conducting administrative hearings under the Kansas Administrative Procedure Act, administration of the Bank Holding Company Act, approving changes of bank names, authorizing reductions in bank capital stock requirements and required reserves, authorizing bank service corporations and trust branch banks, approving trust powers, appointing special deputies, issuing cease and desist orders, approving bank mergers and acquisitions, approving freestanding trust company applications, and adopting rules and regulations.
Three policymaking areas are reserved to the Board: approving new bank charters, approving branch banks, and approving bank requests for a change of location. Appeals from Board decisions in these areas are to the district court.
Regarding the Board, Sub. for S.B. 260 makes it possible for Board members to serve who have appropriate experience in a state chartered savings and loan association; clarifies that no public member appointed to the Board may be an officer, employee, or director in any state or national bank while serving on the Board; names the Bank Commissioner as the nonvoting chairman of the Board; maintains the monthly meeting schedule for the Board unless there are no applications requiring the Board's approval; and restricts Board member access to records in the office of the Commissioner.
Finally, the bill names the Bank Commissioner as the successor to the powers, duties, and functions of the Savings and Loan Board which was abolished in 1993. Previous legislation transferred those powers, duties, and functions to the State Banking Board.
Background
S.B. 260 began with the work of the interim Special Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance that reviewed the regulatory framework of financial institutions in Kansas. The interim Committee recommended that the appropriate standing committees continue the study in the 1999 Legislative Session. Sub. for S.B. 260 is the result of that recommendation.
The bill is supported by the Acting Bank Commissioner, the Kansas Bankers Association, and was opposed by the Community Bankers Association of Kansas.
The Bank Commissioner indicated the original bill would have 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