## THE ATETOIPSEY~'@E?YEEZAL QF TEXAS

Opinion No. C- 87 Honorable Jesse James Opinion No. WW-1498-A State Treasurer of Texas Austin, Texas Re: Whether credit unions should report .personal

property subject to escheat under Article 3272a V*C.S., or report their dormant

. or Inactive accounts under Dear Mr. James: Article 3272b,V.C.S. We, have been requested .torec~onslder Attorney General's Opinion w-1498 from the standpointof the possibilitythat the language used.therelnmay conceivablybe construedas holding the credit unions to be banks or banking institutions. Since It was not the intent,

of this office to so hold, and in order to clarify any misconceptionwhlch,hasresulted from the languageused therein, we.

hereby withdrawW-1498 as originallyreleased and substitutethe followingas the opinion of this office.
You have requested the opinion of this office by asking the following question,quoted from your letter of November 27, 1962 : "Will you please advise this department, by official opinion,whether credit unions organized either under the laws of the~StaCe of Texas or of the United States, should report personal property subject to escheat under Article 3272a, R.C.S., or report their dormant or Inactive accounts under Article 3272b, R.C.S." Article 3272a, Vernon's Civil Statutes, requires all "persons"to report personal property In their possessionwhich is subject to escheat. Section l(a) of that Article defines "person"and Is as follows:

"(a) The term 'person'as used In this Article means any Individual,corporation, business association,partnership,governmentalor political subdivisionor officer,public authority, estate, trust, trustee, officer of a court, liquidator,two .(2)or more persons having a joint or common Interest, or any other legal, comme,rclal, governmentalor

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political entity, except banks. savingsand loan associations.

banklnn organizations or lnstltutlons." (Rnphaslasupplied.) .' If credit unions are excluded from ArtIdle 3272a, by the provision quoted above, they would then come within the scope of Article 327213Vernon's Civil Statutes, Article 3272b, applies specificallyto holders of personal propertywhich are excluded in Article 3272a Section l(a) supra. These'holders are termed "depositoriesa

In Article &2b, Section l(a), which states: "(a) The term deoosltorvas used In this Articlemeans any bank. savings-andloan association, banking inatltutlohor organization which receives and holds for others deposits of money or its equiva- 'lent In banklnn practice or other personalproperty In thl St t I th St t ror reeld known to $v~*r%d~d"lne~hlsaS~&e.'I ents last (mphasls supplied.) This provisionuses the same genericwords in defining deposltorlesas Article 372a Section l(a), uses in specifying those entitles excepted from its application. It will be noted that althoughArticle 3272b, Section l(a), uses additionalwords In describingdepositories these additionalwords are merely a clarificationof what the fiegislature meant by the terms "banking organizationsor lnstltutlons"in both Article p72a and 3272b. Obviously,a credit union Is not a bank nor 1s It a savings and loan associationnor banking lnstl&utlonIn any strict sense. The question then becomes whether a credit union is "an organization

wfiich receives and holds for others deposits of money or Its equivalentin banking practice"wlthln the meaning intendedby the Legislaturein Article 32Eb. Title 46 V.C.S. authorizes the formationof creditunions and places them'underthe supemrlsionof the State Bankln Board and the Banking Commissioner. 2484b, V.C.S. See Articles 2463, 2465, 2$84 and

Federal credit unions are organizedunder the provisions of 12 U.S.C.A. 1753, and subject to the provisionsof Title 12, Chapter 14, U.S.C.A. The definition of a rederal credit union in 12 U.S.C.A. 1752, Is the~sameas that found In Article 2461, V.C.S. defining state credit unions, .Federal credit unions are under the supervisionof the Bureau of Federal Credit Unions in the Department of Health Education and Welfare and the restrictions and limitationsimposed &y Chapter 14 and administered by that Bureau are very similar to the Texas statutesapplicable to credit unions. -424-Honorable Jesse James, Page 3 (WW-1498-A)

Article 2462, V.C.S., provides that “A creditunion may receive the savings of,lta: members In payment for sharesor as

9w? l l It may lend money to Its members within the nmits an au ject to the restrlctlonsprovidedby law

. . ." Bl?tlCle 2466 V.C.S. provides that “The by-laws of!the credit anions shali prescribe: 6; The conditionson which deoosltsmay be receivedand $thd&wn " In Article 2474 V.C.S.,. werlnd that "Sharesmay be issued and'deposltsreceived in the name of a~mlnor and such shares and depositsmay., 'In the discretionof the directors, be withdrawnby such minor or by Ma parent or guardian

. . ."

A federal credit union may lend money to members, to the United States of America, or other speclried borrowers. It may receive payments from Its members on shares,and may borrows from any source amounts up to 502 of Its paid-inand unimpaired capital and~surplus. These powers are provided in 12 U.S.&A. 1757. Presumably,a federal credit union may borrowmoney by receiving deposits from members or others.
It is apparent that the nature of a federal credit union Is no~t significantly

different from that of a state credit union, other-thanbeing organizedunder federal law and subject to federal regulation. The Legislaturedid not limit the scope of Article 327213 Section l(a), to the words "bank" and "savingsand loan assocla~lon," but Included the words "organization which receives and holds for others deposits of money or Its equivalentin banking practice." One of the principal rules of statutory construction, ,which we consider applicable here, Is found-in Texas Bank & Trust ~Co.v. Austin, 115 Tex. 201, 280 S.W. 161, 162 (1926) :

"And yet no rule of a statutoryconstruction is more universally recognized than that which compels the courts to give some effect to every express declaration of legislativeintent. The rule is clearly stated In M.K.&fJ!. Py. Co, of Texas v; Mahaffey 105 Tex. 398;150 S.W. 881 citing Justice karlan's Opinion for the United States Supreme Court In Montclair v. Ramsdell, 107 U.S. 19, 2 S.Ct. 395, 27 L.Ed. 431, where It Is said:

'It Is the duty or the court to give effect, If possible to every clause and word of’

a statute avoiding If It may be, any constructionwhich implies that the Legislature was Ignorantof the meaning of the language It employed."'

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If the words "an organization which receivesand holds for others deposits of money or Its equivalentin bsnking practice" are to have meaning when used In addition to the tems "bank" and "savingsand,loan association, I' In Article 3272b,we belletie~ that credit unions are within the meaning of those words. Therefore it la our opinion that both federal credit unions and state credit unions should comply with Article 3272b, and report their dormant and Inactiveaccounts pursuant thereto. SUMMARY Credit unions, organizedunder the laws of the State of Texas or of the United States, should report their dormant or Inactiveaccountsunder Article 3272b, V.C.S., rather than report personal property subject to escheatunder Article 3272a, V.C.S. Yours very truly, WAGGONER CARR Attorney General of Texas

By: ~~i~~ J. Albert Pruett, Jr. AssistantAttorney Qeneral JAPjr/ca APPROVED: OPINION CoMlrIITTEE
W. V. Geppert, Chairman w. 0. shu1tz Wm. E. Allen Marietta Payne Malcolm Quick APPROVKDFOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: Albert P. Jones

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