Fla. Stat. § 658.12 — Florida Code / Title XXXVIII / Chapter 658 / Section 658.12
658.12 Definitions.
Status: in_force

Subject to other definitions contained in the financial institutions codes and unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Association” means an association as defined in s. 665.012.

(2) “Bank” means any person having a subsisting charter or other lawful authorization, under the laws of this or any other jurisdiction, authorizing such person to conduct a general commercial banking business. The term “bank” does not include a credit union or an association.

(3) “Banker’s bank” means a bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or a holding company which owns or controls such an insured bank, if a minimum of 75 percent of the stock of such bank or holding company is owned exclusively by other banks, the bank is organized solely to do business with other financial institutions, and the bank does not do business with the general public.

(4) “Branch” or “branch office” of a bank means any office or place of business of a bank, other than its main office and the facilities and operations authorized by ss. 658.26(4) and 660.33, at which deposits are received, checks are paid, or money is lent. With respect to a bank that has a trust department, the terms have the meanings herein ascribed to a branch or a branch office of a trust company and mean any office or place of business of a trust company, other than its main office and its trust service offices established pursuant to s. 660.33, where trust business is transacted with its customers.

(5) “Charter” of a bank or trust company means the lawful authority under the laws of this or any other jurisdiction to exist and conduct business as, and the franchise of, a bank or a trust company, as the case may be, and includes the written instrument however denominated or entitled which evidences such authority. When used as a verb, “charter” means the granting of such authority and franchise.

(6) “Community” means an incorporated city, town, or village or, where not within any of the foregoing or if the office determines that the area within the corporate limits of any of the foregoing is inappropriate under specific circumstances, such trade area or other area, determined by the office to be appropriate under the circumstances, in which are located persons having generally similar interests, including residential, social, or business interests or combinations thereof.

(7) “Court” means a court of competent jurisdiction.

(8) “Fiduciary” means a trustee; committee, guardian, custodian, conservator, or other personal representative of a person, property, or an estate; registrar or transfer agent of, or in connection with, evidences of indebtedness of every kind and of stocks and bonds and other securities; fiscal or financial agent; investment adviser; receiver; trustee in bankruptcy; assignee for creditors; or holder of any similar representative position or any other position of trust, including a person acting in any or all the capacities and performing any or all the functions enumerated in s. 660.34.

(9) “General commercial banking business” includes: (a) The business of receiving demand and time deposits; (b) The payment of checks; and (c) The conduct of a trust business when duly authorized.

(10) “Item” means any instrument, or any electronically or otherwise recorded, stored, or transmitted message, for the payment of money, whether or not it is negotiable, but does not include money.

(11) “Law” means each valid and applicable statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation of any state and each of its political subdivisions or of the United States and each of its departments, agencies, or other entities authorized by the laws of the United States to issue rules or regulations.

(12) “National bank” means a bank organized and existing as a national banking association under the provisions of 12 U.S.C. s. 21 and other sections of the National Bank Act relating thereto.

(13) “Political subdivision” of this state means and includes counties, municipalities, and departments, commissions, districts, boards, and other bodies, whether corporate or otherwise, created by or pursuant to the provisions of the constitution or any other law and also includes any officer of any of the foregoing.

(14) “Primary service area” means the smallest geographical area from which a bank draws, or a proposed bank expects to draw, approximately 75 percent of its deposits; the term also means the smallest geographic area from which a trust company or the trust department of a bank or association draws, or a proposed trust company or a proposed trust department of a bank or association expects to draw, approximately 75 percent of the assets value of its fiduciary accounts.

(15) “Principal place of business” or “principal place of doing business” of a bank, the trust department of a bank, or a trust company means its main office.

(16) “State,” when used in the context of a state other than this state, means any or every other state of the United States, the District of Columbia, any and every territory of the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands.

(17) “State bank” means any bank which has a subsisting bank charter issued pursuant to the provisions of the financial institutions codes or the general banking laws of this state in effect prior to the enactment of the financial institutions codes.

(18) “State member bank” means a state bank which is a member of the Federal Reserve System; and “state nonmember bank” means a state bank which is not a member of the Federal Reserve System.

(19) “State trust company” means a corporation, other than a bank, which has a subsisting trust company charter issued pursuant to the provisions of the financial institutions codes or the applicable laws of the state in effect prior to the enactment of the financial institutions codes.

(20) “Target market” means the group of clients or potential clients from whom: (a) A bank or proposed bank expects to draw deposits and to whom the bank or proposed bank focuses or intends to focus its marketing efforts; or (b) A trust company, a trust department of a bank or association, a proposed trust company, or a proposed trust department of a bank or association expects to draw its fiduciary accounts and to whom the trust company, the trust department of a bank or association, the proposed trust company, or the proposed trust department of a bank or association focuses or intends to focus its marketing efforts.

(21) “Trust business” means the business of acting as a fiduciary when such business is conducted by a bank, a state or federal association, or a trust company, or when conducted by any other business organization for compensation that the office does not consider to be de minimis.

(22) “Trust company” means any business organization, other than a bank or state or federal association, which is authorized by lawful authority to engage in trust business. A bank or state or federal association conducting business pursuant to lawful authority, which also by lawful authority has authority to engage in trust business, is the functional equivalent of a trust company with respect to performance of fiduciary services, and may assume fiduciary duties under appointive instruments that establish fiduciary relationships.

(23) “Trust department” means the functional division or department of a bank or state or federal association which conducts the trust business of a bank or state or federal association which has been granted trust powers, pursuant to the laws of this or any other jurisdiction, authorizing the bank or state or federal association to engage in trust business in addition to the general commercial banking business or general business of an association in which it engages.

(24) “Trust powers” means the rights and powers necessary to act as a fiduciary and, when the context so requires or admits, the term also means the authority granted to a bank, state or federal association, or trust company by, or pursuant to, the laws of this or any other jurisdiction to engage in trust business.

(25) Terms which are defined in other sections of the financial institutions codes shall, unless the context otherwise requires or unless by the provisions of the section in which such term is defined its meaning as so defined is limited, have the meanings ascribed to them in such other sections of the financial institutions codes.

History: s. 1, ch. 28016, 1953; ss. 12, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 276, ch. 71-377; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; ss. 2, 151, 152, ch. 80-260; s. 446, ch. 81-259; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; s. 1, ch. 83-48; s. 13, ch. 91-110; s. 1, ch. 91-307; s. 60, ch. 92-82; ss. 1, 102, 103, ch. 92-303; s. 7, ch. 2001-243; s. 1760, ch. 2003-261; s. 99, ch. 2006-1; s. 19, ch. 2011-194; s. 21, ch. 2014-91; s. 13, ch. 2015-64; s. 9, ch. 2022-178.