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Honorable James 0. Gerst OpinionNO. c-655

Commissioner Savings and Loan Department 1010 Lavaca Street Austin, Texas Re: Whether a financial institutionnot regulated by the Savings and Loan Department may use the name 'Savings"as part of Dear Mr. Gerst: itsname.
Your letter requesting the opinion of this office on the questions stated thereinprovided the following facts:
(1)* A business organizationwas licensed to do business under the Texas Regulatory Loan Act by the name of "SavingsFinance Company".

(2) * A business organization is doing business in Texas under the name of "Baptist Building Savings, Inc."
Included with your inquirywas a letter from Savings Finance Company and an advertisementof Baptist Building Savings, Inc. You then make the following statementand inquiry of our office:

"Ithas been the policy of this Department that the use of theword 'savings' in connectionwith a financial institutionnot regulated by this Department is misleading to the public and prohibitedby the Statutes. Your opinion is respectfullyrequested as to whether or not the use of the word 'savings' as herein outlined constitutesa violation of the Savings and Loan statutes or any other applicable statutes ,orlaw'.



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Pertinent to the determination of the question which you have propounded is the portion of Article 852a, Section 2.12, Vernon's Civil Statutes (Texas Savings and Loan Act) which provides as follows:

II

. *No person, firm, company, association, fiduciary,partnership or corporation, either domestic or foreign,unless authorized to do business in this State under the provisions of this Act shall do business under any name or title which indicates or reasonably implies that the business is the character or kind of business carried on or transactedby an association or which is calculated to lead any person to believe that the business is that of an association. Upon application by the Commissioner or any association, a court of competent jurisdiction may issue an injunction to restrain any such entity from violating or continuing to violateany of the foregoingprovisions of this Section."
The prohibition stated is inclusive of all business enterprisesand not ;ust financial l.nstj.tutj.ons. The intentions of the Legislature inenaCting this statute are quite clear and apparent. Because 01 the quasipublic character of aavings and loan associations, it was deemednecessary to protect the publicwelfare by subjecting the companies to supervisionand regulation by a State agency. The statutesalso protect the industrv bv eliminating comoletelvunrestrainedand unlawfui competition. .Braz&p.ort-Savingsand Loan Association v.American Savings and Loan Association, 161 Tex. 543, 34y Legislature not only prohibited the unauthorized conduct ,ofthe business of a savingsand loan association but it also prohibited the use of a name by a business, which might reasonably imply that such enterprise is of the same characterand kind as that of a savingsand loan association.

In order to resolve the inquiry which you have propounded, itbecomes necessary to determinewhether

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Honorable James 0. Gerst, page 3 (c-655)

or not the word “savings”alone, regardless of-other portions of a name, would engendera sufficient connotation or description of the savings and loan industry so as to be misleading to the general public. For several reasons we are of the opinion that the usage of the word “savings”in a name does not per se imply that the business is that of a savingsand loan association or will mislead the public to so believe. First, neither Article 852a nor any other statute which we consideredprovides for such prohibitionper Rather, Section 3.12 sets forth two standards for determiningwhether or not a name, include “savings”, which may or may not would be Improper and prohibited. If the name or title reasonably implies that the buslness is the character or kind carried on or transacted by a savings and loanassociation or if the name is calculated to lead any person to belleve that the business is that of a savingsand loan association, then that name may be prohibitedand enjoined from usage by the savings and loan commissionerby appropriate action. Secondly, when asked about the usage of the word “bank” in a corporatename, our officeheld in Attorney General Opinion R-20’&that even thoughArticle ?42-902 ofVernon’s Civil Statutes specificallyprohibited the usage of that term when an enterprisewas not conducting a banking business and/orwas not authorized to do so under the banking statutes, the usage of the word “bank” was not per se prohibitedbut was dependentupon the facts of the situation. That determination is also controlling over the present situation, especially since the Savings and LoanAct does not carry any specificprohibition of theusage of the word “savings”.

As the inquirywhichyou have propounded evolves into a question of fact,your office is the proper authority to make this determination. As a means of assistance inyour determination,wewould state that the usage of generic terms or other descriptiveterminology in’the names, such as Savings InsuranceCompany or Savings Drug Store would tend to alleviateany misrepresentation to or misleading of the public.
There has been some question as to whether or not the proscription of this statute is sufficientwhen the word “savings” is not used in conjunctionwith “association”

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or "loanassociation". We are of the opinion that "association"or "loanassociation"are not necess7rv parts of a name before theprohibitionof Article 852a is effective. We are of thismind because the statute does not exclude usage ofonly such word combinations and because the Intentionof the Legislature is quite clear and apparent on its face. Therefore, to interpret the statute to prohibitnames with only these word combinationswould be to subvert the obvious, plain and clear intent of the Legislature. When the intent of a statute isplainly expressed in its language, it must be given effectwithout attempting to construe or interpretthe law. 53 Tex. Jur. 2d 182, sec. 125. Gaddy v. FirstNational Dank, 115 Tex. 393, 283 S.W. 472 (19%) CentralEducationAgency v. Independent School District, 152 Tex. 5b, 254 S W

. . 2d 35 ’1 (19531.
SUMMARY --__--- The use of the word 'Savings"by a business, that is not regulatedby the Savings and Loan Department, as part of its name or title, is not per se prohibited by Article 852a,Vernon's Civil Statutes;but whether the use of such word in its name or title would indicate or reasonably imply that the business is the character or kind of business carried on or transactedby a savingsassociation or which is calculated to lead any person to believe that the business is that ofa savingsassociation is a question of fact, to be determinedby the Savings and LoanDepartment. Respectfully submitted,

WAGGONER CARR Attorney General of Texas

HG:jh

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Honorable James 0. Gerst, page 5 (c-655)

APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE

W. V. Geppert, Chairman James Strock Ronald Luna John Fainter Sam Kelley

APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL By: T. B. Wright

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