An Act to Make Technical Amendments to Banking Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0114
Committee: Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services
Sponsors: BAILEY
Amends: 9-B MRSA §214, 9-B MRSA §252, 9-B MRSA §367-A, 9-B MRSA §1231

Legislative Document
No. 114
S.P. 53
In Senate, January 9, 2023
An Act to Make Technical Amendments to Banking Laws
Submitted by the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation pursuant to Joint 
Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services 
suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BAILEY of York.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  9-B MRSA §214, sub-§2, ¶A, as amended by PL 2003, c. 322, §6, is further 
amended to read:
A.  To provide for the balance of the reasonable expenses incurred to fulfill the bureau's 
duty pursuant to this Title, including general regulatory costs, overhead, transportation 
and general office and administrative expenses, except as otherwise provided in this 
paragraph, the superintendent shall assess each financial institution under the 
superintendent's supervision at the annual rate of at least 6¢ for each $1,000 of the total 
of average assets, as defined by the superintendent.  The frequency of assessment may 
coincide with the frequency of filing periodic financial reports with the bureau but may 
not be more frequent than quarterly.  The superintendent may raise the minimum 
assessment rate of 6¢ for each $1,000 of the total of average assets by promulgating 
adopting rules pursuant to section 251 at such time as economic conditions warrant 
such an increase. In Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, in no event may 
the assessment be less than $25.  The superintendent may lower or suspend by rule or 
order any assessment specified in this paragraph or established by rule pursuant to this 
paragraph.  Rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph are routine technical rules as 
defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 2.  9-B MRSA §214, sub-§2-B, as amended by PL 2003, c. 322, §7, is further 
amended to read:
2-B.  Assessment on nondepository trust companies.  Nondepository Except as 
otherwise provided in this subsection, nondepository trust companies that are not affiliated 
with a financial institution shall pay an assessment at the annual rate of not less than $2,000 
or an amount determined by the superintendent of at least 6¢ for every $10,000 of fiduciary 
assets under its management, custody or care.  The superintendent may further define by 
rule fiduciary assets under management, custody or care or change the minimum 
assessment whenever economic conditions warrant such a change.  The superintendent may 
lower or suspend by rule or order any assessment specified in this subsection or established 
by rule pursuant to this subsection.  Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine 
technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.  These assessments must 
be paid in accordance with subsection 2, paragraph B.
Sec. 3.  9-B MRSA §252, sub-§2, ¶C, as repealed and replaced by PL 1977, c. 694, 
§159, is amended to read:
C.  The superintendent may suspend or postpone action on an application after the first 
publication of notice pursuant to paragraph B, upon written request of the applicant or 
on his the superintendent's own initiative for good cause shown. Good cause includes 
a judgment by the superintendent that the bureau lacks the present capacity to 
adequately ensure the safety and soundness of the proposed institution or activity. The 
superintendent shall promptly provide notice of any suspension or postponement in the 
same manner and in the same publications in which the original notice of application 
was provided. If and when action is resumed on the application, the superintendent 
shall again provide notice in the same manner and in the same publications in which 
the preceding notices were provided.
Sec. 4.  9-B MRSA §367-A, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 83, §10, is amended 
to read:
6.  Mergers.  The conservator or receiver, with the approval of the superintendent, may 
order the merger or consolidation of any financial institution that is described in section 
363‑A or 365 with any other financial institution, state-chartered or federally chartered, 
with the consent of the other financial institution and may prescribe the mode or procedure 
for the merger or consolidation and the terms and conditions of the merger or consolidation.  
Unless limited by the conservator or receiver, the effect of the merger on various property 
interests and fiduciary designations of the resulting institution is the same as described for 
mergers subject to section 357, subsection 1.  
Sec. 5.  9-B MRSA §367-A, sub-§7 is enacted to read:
7.  Fiduciary accounts.  A conservator or receiver may terminate fiduciary positions 
of the financial institution, surrender property held by the financial institution as a fiduciary 
and settle fiduciary accounts. The conservator or receiver may release fiduciary property 
to one or more successor fiduciaries, and may sell one or more fiduciary accounts to one 
or more successor fiduciaries. Upon a sale or transfer of a financial institution's fiduciary 
property or a fiduciary account by a conservator or receiver, the successor fiduciary is 
automatically substituted without further action and without any order of any court.  The 
conservator or receiver shall provide notice of the substitution, as far as practicable, to each 
person to whom the financial institution provides periodic reports of fiduciary activity.  The 
notice must include the name of the financial institution, the name of the successor 
fiduciary and the effective date of the substitution.  The successor fiduciary has all of the 
rights, powers, duties and obligations of the transferring financial institution and is deemed 
to be named, nominated or appointed as fiduciary in any will, trust, court order or similar 
written document or instrument that names, nominates or appoints the transferring financial 
institution as fiduciary, whether executed before or after the substitution.  The successor 
fiduciary has no obligations or liabilities under this chapter for any acts, actions, inactions 
or events occurring prior to the effective date of the substitution.
Sec. 6.  9-B MRSA §1231, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 398, Pt. J, §2, is amended to 
read:
§1231.  General authority and purpose
A financial institution engaged in the business of banking that does not accept retail 
deposits and for which insurance of deposits by the FDIC is not required may be organized 
pursuant to chapter 31.  Unless otherwise indicated in this chapter, an uninsured bank has 
all the powers, rights, duties and obligations as a financial institution under this Title.  An 
uninsured bank is not a nondepository trust company or a merchant bank.
SUMMARY
This bill provides the Superintendent of Financial Institutions with the authority to 
reduce assessments by rule or order.  Current law only allows the Bureau of Financial 
Institutions to raise assessments.
The bill clarifies that the superintendent may suspend or postpone action on an 
application submitted to the bureau in the event that the bureau has no present capacity to 
supervise the applicant based on a lack of personnel or tools to adequately supervise certain 
emerging business models in a manner that protects the public and ensures the safety and 
soundness of the institution.
The bill amends the processes for liquidations of financial institutions to provide that, 
like standard mergers, fiduciary accounts are automatically transferred to the surviving 
institution in the event of a merger conducted as part of a liquidation, thus removing the 
need for such accounts to be transferred by court processes or obtaining consent of account 
beneficiaries.
The bill clarifies that an uninsured bank must be engaged in the business of banking in 
order to be organized under the laws governing investor-owned institutions.