Senate Bill No. 276
(By Senator Minard and Kessler)
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[Introduced January 21, 2002; referred to the Committee
on Banking and Insurance; and then to the Committee on Finance
.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section forty, article four, chapter
thirty-one-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to permissive
closing of bank branches.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section forty, article four, chapter thirty-one-a of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. BANKING INSTITUTIONS AND SERVICES GENERALLY.
ยง31A-4-40. Permissive closing on fixed weekday or portions of
weekdays; notice of closings; emergency closings;
procedures.
(a) In addition to Sundays and legal holidays any banking institution may remain closed on any one fixed weekday or
portion of a day in each calendar week, or on any one fixed
weekday and a portion of another weekday in each calendar week,
or on portions of two weekdays in each calendar week, which day
and/ or portion or portions of the day or days when the
institution is to remain closed shall be designated by a
resolution adopted by the board of directors thereof. Prior to
any such closing, the banking institution shall post a notice in
a conspicuous place in its banking room stating that beginning
on a day certain the banking institution will remain closed on
a fixed weekday and/ or portions thereof. Concurrently with the
posting of the notice of closure, the banking institution shall
cause a notice to be published as a Class II legal advertisement
in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter
fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for the
publication shall be the county in which the principal office of
the bank is located. The notice shall set forth the time or
times on which the bank will remain closed and the date when the
closing becomes effective. A certified copy of the resolution
certified by the cashier or secretary of the banking
institution, together with an affidavit of posting and proof of
publication of the notice herein required, shall be filed with
the commissioner of banking. Any banking institution may elect to operate branches that are open for business on the days and
for the hours as determined appropriate by that banking
institution.
(b) Any banking institution may close, without notice,
during any period of actual or threatened enemy attack affecting
the community in which the banking institution is located or
during any period of other emergency including, but not limited
to, fire, flood, hurricane, riot, snow or civil commotion:
Provided,
That the commissioner shall be notified of any closing
made pursuant to this subsection as soon as practical
thereafter.
(c) Any fixed weekday and/ or portion of one or more
weekdays on which any banking institution shall elect to close
and any period during which the commissioner may permit it to
close pursuant to the authority of this section shall constitute
a legal holiday with respect to the banking institution and not
a business day or banking day for the purposes of the law
relating to negotiable instruments, and any act or contract
authorized, required or permitted to be carried out or performed
at, by or with respect to the banking institution may be
performed on the next business or banking day, and no liability
or loss of rights on the part of any person or banking
institution shall result therefrom.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow banks more
flexibility in the hours branches are required to be open. In
doing so, it is hoped that banks will take advantage of the
flexible hours to keep branches open at least part-time in areas
of the state where it is not economical to maintain full-time
branches with traditional banking hours.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.