Senate Bill No. 270
(By Senators Minard, Jenkins, Barnes and Plymale)
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[Introduced January 25, 2006; referred to the Committee
on Banking and Insurance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §31A-3-1 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the appointment of
members of banking institutions to the Board of Banking and
Financial Institutions; and qualifications of members
appointed to represent the public on the board.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §31A-3-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. BOARD OF BANKING AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
§31A-3-1. Board created; appointment, qualifications, terms,
oath, etc., of members; quorum; meetings; when
members disqualified from participation;
compensation; records; office space; personnel;
continuation.
(a) There is hereby created the West Virginia Board of
Banking and Financial Institutions which shall consist of six
members and the commissioner, who shall be chairman. The six
members shall be appointed by the Governor by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate. Three of the members shall be
executive officers of state banking institutions. of whom one
shall be truly representative of such state banking institutions
having assets not greater than seventy-five million dollars, one
shall be truly representative of such state banking institutions
having total assets greater than seventy-five million dollars but
not greater than two hundred million dollars, and one shall be
truly representative of such banking institutions having total
assets greater than two hundred million dollars After the first
day of July, two thousand six, when a vacancy occurs among the
executive officers of state banking institutions, the
commissioner shall divide all state banking institutions into
three equal groups according to asset size and the replacement
shall be selected from the appropriate group to ensure that each
group has a representative on the board. One member shall be an
executive officer of a financial institution other than a banking
institution. Two members shall represent the public, neither of
whom shall be an employee, officer, trustee, director or
stockholder owner of five percent or more of the outstanding shares of any financial institution. No member shall hold any
other office, employment or position with the United States, any
state, county, municipality or other governmental entity, any
instrumentality or agency of any of the foregoing or with any
political party.
(b) The members of the board shall be appointed for
overlapping terms of six years, except that of the original
appointments, two members shall be appointed for a term of two
years, two members shall be appointed for a term of four years
and two members shall be appointed for a term of six years, and
in every instance until their respective successors have been
appointed and qualified. Any member appointed for a full
six-year term may not be reappointed until two years after the
expiration of such term. Any member appointed for less than a
full six-year term shall be eligible for reappointment for a full
term. Before entering upon the performance of his or her duties,
each member shall take and subscribe to the oath required by
section five, article IV of the Constitution of this State. The
Governor shall, within sixty days following the occurrence of a
vacancy on the board, fill the same by appointing a person for
the unexpired term of, and meeting the same requirements for
membership as, the person vacating said office. Any member may
be removed by the Governor in case of incompetency, neglect of duty, gross immorality or malfeasance in office.
(c) A majority of the members of the board shall constitute
a quorum. The board shall meet at least once in each calendar
quarter on a date fixed by the board. The commissioner may, upon
his or her own motion, or shall upon the written request of three
members of the board, call additional meetings of the board upon
at least twenty-four hours' notice. No member shall participate
in a proceeding before the board to which a corporation,
partnership or unincorporated association is a party, and of
which he or she is, or was at any time in the preceding twelve
months, a director, officer, owner, partner, employee, member or
stockholder. A member may disqualify himself or herself from
participation in a proceeding for any other cause deemed by him
or her to be sufficient. Each member shall receive fifty dollars
for each day or portion thereof spent in attending meetings of
the board and shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and
necessary expenses incurred incident to his or her duties as a
member of the board.
(d) The board shall keep an accurate record of all its
proceedings and make certificates thereupon as may be required by
law. The commissioner shall make available necessary office space
and secretarial and other assistance as the board may reasonably require.
Pursuant to the provisions of section four, article ten, chapter four of this code, and following a preliminary
performance audit review conducted through the Joint Committee on
Government Operations, the West Virginia Board of Banking and
Financial Institutions shall continue to exist until the first
day of July, two thousand five.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to ensure that the three
members of the board of banking and financial institutions who
are chief executives of the states banks are each chosen from an
equal number of banks. It is also intended to allow the public
members of the board to own a minority interest in financial
institutions.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.