A. No bank shall be permitted to establish and operate a branch, or relocate a branch, except upon a certificate issued by the State Banking Commissioner or the Comptroller of the Currency.

B. Upon approval of the Commissioner or Comptroller of the Currency, any bank is authorized to establish and operate in Oklahoma, on real property owned or leased by the bank, an unlimited number of branches by acquisition, de novo, or otherwise, whether fixed or mobile, at or from which any permissible function, business, power, or activity of any kind whatsoever of the bank may be performed or engaged in. Provided, however, no bank, savings bank, savings association, out-of-state bank, out-of-state savings bank, out-of-state savings association, industrial loan company or industrial bank may establish or maintain a branch in this state on the premises or property of an affiliate if the affiliate engages in commercial activities. For purposes of this section, “affiliate” means any company that controls, or is controlled by another company, and “commercial activities” means activities in which a bank may not engage under federal law, either directly or indirectly through an operating subsidiary or financial subsidiary.

C. Except for the procedures relating to establishment of temporary branches, the procedures, standards and requirements for making application for permission to establish and operate a branch shall be set by rule of the Banking Board. However, no emphasis upon competition or competitive factors shall be imposed, and in no event shall such rules impose standards, criteria, or requirements upon state-chartered banks which are more onerous than those existing for national banks.

D. All existing branches and detached facilities of a bank shall, upon the expiration of sixty (60) days after the effective date of this act, by operation of law and without further action by the bank or Commissioner, or the Comptroller of the Currency, become and be deemed lawful branches, fully authorized and validly existing pursuant to this section. Provided, a bank may elect to opt-out of the effects of this subsection as to one or more of its existing detached facilities, by providing to its chartering authority, prior to the expiration of sixty (60) days after the effective date of this act, a written notice that the bank has opted-out of the effects of this subsection with the result that one or more of its detached facilities will continue to be classified as detached facilities rather than as branches. The written notice must clearly identify each particular detached facility to which it applies. “Existing branches and detached facilities”, for purposes of this subsection, means branches or detached facilities which have been approved and are open and operating, or are approved but unopened, or for which application was made prior to the effective date of this act and for which approval is given after the effective date of this act.

E. Any bank or savings association with its main office or a branch office located in a county where an institution of higher education is located, may open accounts and accept deposits on the campus of the institution of higher education if notice is provided to the Department and written permission is granted by the institution, for no more than seven (7) days per year. The authorization of this subsection shall be self-executing and no application to the regulators of the bank or savings association shall be required by this section for a bank or savings association to comply with this subsection.

F. A temporary branch may be established and operated upon approval of the Commissioner or Comptroller of the Currency. As used in this subsection, “temporary branch” means:

1. A branch that is located at a fixed site that is within one thousand (1,000) feet of the location of the approved site of the same bank for a permanent branch, and such temporary branch is scheduled to, and will, permanently close not later than a certain date, no longer than one (1) year after the temporary branch is first opened, as specified in the permanent branch application and the public notice. No separate fee shall be imposed for a temporary branch approved under this paragraph if the temporary site is originally described in an application seeking to establish a permanent branch;

2. A branch that is approved for a limited period of time, without requirement of notice or hearing, as a temporary replacement for a previously existing branch that is inoperable due to an “emergency” as defined in Section 102 of this title or that is established because of an emergency in a community that prevents access to an established branch by customers in a specified community. Approval of a temporary branch established under this paragraph shall expire at the time the emergency that caused the establishment of the temporary branch no longer exists. No separate fee shall be imposed for a temporary branch approved under this paragraph; or

3. Branches that are approved for a limited time not to exceed, in the aggregate, fifteen (15) days per year, per institution, that will be operated during special events open to the public or to members of a specific group. The application fee for a temporary branch under this paragraph shall be the same as that charged for a loan and deposit production office. Requests to establish a branch under this paragraph must be made on a form prescribed by the Commissioner.

G. The Board may, by rule, establish a procedure whereby the Commissioner may grant approval and issue the certificate to establish or acquire and operate or relocate a branch or other banking office permitted by this section without a hearing before the Board. The procedure shall include criteria set by the Board to be applied by the Commissioner in the consideration of the application.

H. Notwithstanding subsection C of this section, an application fee for branch, branch relocation or other banking office applications may be assessed in amounts set by rule of the Board.

I. 1. It shall be unlawful for any bank or out-of-state bank which has direct or indirect control of more than twenty percent (20%) of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions located in Oklahoma, as determined by the Commissioner on the basis of the most recent reports of such institutions to their supervisory authorities, to acquire any other bank or savings association in this state.

2. The deposit limitation provided for in this subsection shall not apply to disallow an acquisition of a bank or savings association if control results only by reason of ownership or control of shares of a bank or savings association acquired directly or indirectly:

a.in a good faith fiduciary capacity, except when such shares are held for the benefit of the acquiring bank’s shareholders,

b.by a bank in the regular course of securing or collecting a debt previously contracted in good faith, or

c.at the request of or in connection with the exercise of regulatory authority for the purpose of preventing imminent failure of the bank or savings association or to protect the depositors thereof as determined by the principal supervisory agency in its sole discretion.

However, at the end of a period of five (5) years from the date of acquisition, for the circumstances set forth in subparagraphs b and c of this paragraph, the deposits of the acquired bank or savings association shall be included in computing the deposit limitation and if deposits are in excess, appropriate reductions and disposition shall be made with six (6) months to meet such limitations. Further, in the circumstances set forth in subparagraph c of this paragraph, the Commissioner and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall give priority in authorizing any such acquisition to any acquiring bank whose total deposits do not exceed the deposit limitation.

J. The provisions of this section shall not be construed in derogation or denial of the rights to operate and maintain facilities as provided for in Sections 421 and 422 of this title.

K. An operating subsidiary of a bank which engages in the business of owner-occupied home mortgage lending shall not be considered a branch under this section in order to conduct such lending operations at any location.

Added by Laws 2000, c. 205, § 19, emerg. eff. May 17, 2000. Amended by Laws 2007, c. 80, § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2008; Laws 2008, c. 275, § 5, eff. July 1, 2008.