8-139. Executive officers; approval of loans and investments; qualifications; license; revocation; violations; penalty; civil penalty; election to exempt active executive officers from license; procedure.

(1) No loan or investment shall be made by a bank, directly or indirectly, without the approval of an active executive officer.

(2) Executive officers of banks shall be persons of good moral character, known integrity, business experience and responsibility, and be capable of conducting the affairs of a bank on sound banking principles.

(3) Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, no person shall act as an active executive officer of any bank until such bank has applied for and obtained from the department a license for such person to act as an active executive officer. If the director, upon investigation, is satisfied that any active executive officer of a bank is conducting the business of the bank in an unsafe or unauthorized manner or is endangering the interests of the stockholders or depositors of the bank, the department may revoke the license of such active executive officer or suspend the ability of such active executive officer to continue to act as an active executive officer.

(4) Any person (a) whose license has been revoked or whose authority has been suspended by the department under subsection (3) of this section or who lacks a license and on whose behalf no election was made under subsection (6) of this section and (b) who acts or attempts to act as an active executive officer of a bank is guilty of a Class III felony.

(5) As part of any order of revocation or suspension under subsection (3) of this section, the director may levy a civil penalty against the active executive officer personally in an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars. The civil penalty shall not be paid out of the assets of the bank in which the active executive officer is employed or otherwise performing services pursuant to contract. The department shall remit the civil penalty collected to the State Treasurer for distribution in accordance with Article VII, section 5, of the Constitution of Nebraska. Any person whose authority has been revoked or suspended with prejudice under this section shall not be eligible to act as an executive officer at any other bank without authorization to do so from the department.

(6) A bank has the right, on or after August 24, 2017, to elect for its active executive officers to be exempt from the requirement to apply for and obtain a license from the department. An election, once made, shall remain in effect with respect to all active executive officers of the bank until and unless the election is revoked by the bank. An election or revocation shall be made in a form and manner established by the department. Within thirty days after revoking such election, such bank shall apply for and obtain from the department a license for any person acting or desiring to act as an active executive officer of the bank.

(7) For purposes of this section, active executive officer means any employee of a bank or any person under contract to perform services for a bank who is determined by the department to be a policy-dominant individual in the bank or who exercises (a) management functions, (b) major policymaking functions, or (c) substantial employee supervision, including the power to terminate employment. An active executive officer includes, but is not limited to, a president, a vice-president, a cashier, an assistant cashier, a chief executive officer, a loan officer, or an investment officer.

(8) The director may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations and prescribe forms to be used to carry out the intent of this section.

Source:Laws 1921, c. 297, § 7, p. 952; C.S.1922, § 8048; C.S.1929, § 8-166; Laws 1933, c. 18, § 38, p. 154; C.S.Supp.,1941, § 8-166; R.S.1943, § 8-169; Laws 1963, c. 29, § 39, p. 150; Laws 1977, LB 40, § 45; Laws 2017, LB140, § 36.