A. Any association authorized to transact business in this state may conduct a branch or branches with the powers and limitations provided in the Savings and Loan Act. The association shall first file an application with the supervisor, accompanied by an investigation fee of five hundred dollars ($500). The supervisor shall conduct a hearing on the application after giving the same notice as provided for in Section 58-10-11 NMSA 1978. Opportunity shall be offered any interested person to present evidence and argument. After hearing, the supervisor shall, in his discretion, grant or deny the application in writing. In exercising his discretion, the supervisor shall take into account, but not by way of limitation, such factors as the financial history and conditions of the applicant association, the adequacy of its capital structure, its future earning prospects and the general character of its management. Approval shall not be given until he is satisfied that:

(1) establishment of the branch will meet the needs and promote the convenience and advantage of the community in which the business of the branch is to be conducted; and

(2) the probable volume of business and reasonable public demand in the community are sufficient to assure and maintain the solvency of the branch and of the existing association or associations in the community.

B. Branches of a parent association authorized under the Savings and Loan Act shall be opened for business within six months after the authorization has been issued or extended by the supervisor, or the authorization is void. Branches shall be operated as branches of, and under the name of, the parent association, and be under the control and discretion of the board of directors and executive officers of the parent association.

C. Except as provided in Subsection D of this section, branches of a parent association authorized under the Savings and Loan Act may do business the same as the parent association but branches must be located within a radius of one hundred statute air miles from the principal office of the parent association within the state of New Mexico. The provisions of this subsection are not retroactive with respect to branches established or approved by the director of the financial institutions division prior to the effective date of the Savings and Loan Act.

D. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection C of this section, upon the United States or any agency thereof changing the restrictions on branch offices of federally chartered savings and loan associations which have their principal office in the state, the director of the financial institutions division of the commerce and industry department [regulation and licensing department] may promulgate regulations embodying restrictions for state-chartered savings and loan associations, which restrictions are substantially similar to those then applying to federally chartered savings and loan associations.

E. As used in this section, "branch" includes any additional house, office or place of business at which deposits are received and money lent except where the additional house, office or place of business is connected with the main association business premises by underground or overhead passageways, in which case it shall not be considered as a branch.

History: 1953 Comp., § 48-15-61, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 61, § 17; 1973, ch. 189, § 2; 1977, ch. 38, § 1; 1977, ch. 245, § 42; 1977, ch. 329, § 1; 1978, ch. 8, § 1; 1979, ch. 198, § 1.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.

See 58-1-32 NMSA 1978 and notes thereto.

Cross references. — For meaning of "supervisor", see 58-10-2J NMSA 1978.

Effective dates. — Laws 1967, ch. 61, § 101 made the Savings and Loan Act effective July 1, 1967.

Hearing requirement does not apply to transfer of existing branches. — Subsection A applies only to an application for a new branch and the purpose of the hearing requirements is to have evidence presented that the factors and standards described in the statute can or cannot be met. Therefore, the hearing requirement of Subsection A does not apply to the transfer of existing branches from one savings and loan association to another. Equitable Bldg. & Loan Ass'n v. Davidson, 1973-NMSC-100, 85 N.M. 621, 515 P.2d 140.

"Grandfather clause" branch offices transferred without meeting section's requirements. — Branch offices established under the "grandfather clause" of former Subsection D (present Subsection C) can be transferred without the requirement of notice and hearing, and without meeting the required conditions necessary for the establishment of a new branch office. Equitable Bldg. & Loan Ass'n v. Davidson, 1973-NMSC-100, 85 N.M. 621, 515 P.2d 140.

Assertion of undue competitive injury by proposed branch gives standing. — To attain standing in a suit arguing the unlawfulness of governmental action, the complainant must allege that he is injured in fact or is imminently threatened with injury, economically or otherwise. Appellants had standing to seek review of the supervisor's order as associations "aggrieved and directly affected" by it where they asserted they would suffer from undue competitive injury if another branch was permitted in Santa Fe, and that another branch would not be to the advantage of the community; the protection of these interests is explicitly recognized in Subsection A. De Vargas Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Campbell, 1975-NMSC-026, 87 N.M. 469, 535 P.2d 1320.

Purchase of one association's assets by another permitted. — A New Mexico state chartered savings and loan association may purchase the assets, which include branch offices located more than 100 miles from the purchasing association's principal office, and assume the liabilities, of another state chartered savings and loan association. 1982 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 82-13.

Mileage limitation may not apply to federally insured associations. — Assuming that its application is satisfactory in all other respects and that the criterion prescribed by Subsections A and C (since deleted) of this section are satisfied, a state chartered savings and loan association, whose accounts are insured by the federal savings and loan insurance corporation, which is a member of the federal home loan bank and which maintains its principal office in Las Cruces, New Mexico, can establish and maintain a branch office in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico (a distance of approximately 62 miles) since the limitation imposed by this section is controlled by 58-10-50 NMSA 1978, which gives broader rights to an applicant insured by the federal savings and loan insurance corporation. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 71-77 (opinion rendered under prior version of present Subsection C, former Subsection D, which provided for a maximum distance of 50 miles). See also 1972 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 72-68.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 10 Am. Jur. 2d Banks §§ 324 to 329.

9 C.J.S. Banks and Banking §§ 45, 46.