§412:5-204  Acceptances of drafts and bills
of exchange.  (a)  A bank may accept drafts or bills of exchange drawn upon
it without limitation in the character of acceptances it may make in financing
credit transactions; provided that a bank's own eligible acceptances described
in subsection (b) are subject to the limitations contained in this section in
lieu of the separate and distinct limitations contained in section 412:5-302.



(b)  A bank may accept the following as
eligible acceptances:



(1)  Drafts or bills of exchange drawn upon it having
not more than six months sight to run, exclusive of days of grace, and which
arise out of transactions involving the import or export of goods, transactions
involving the domestic shipment of goods or transactions which are secured at
the time of acceptance by a warehouse receipt or other document conveying or
securing title covering readily marketable staples;



(2)  Drafts or bills of exchange drawn upon it having
not more than three months sight to run, exclusive of days of grace, drawn by
banks in foreign countries for the purpose of furnishing dollar exchange, as
required by the usage of trade in the respective countries.  Provided that the
drafts or bills of exchange shall be drawn under regulations prescribed by the
Federal Reserve Board; and



(3)  Drafts and bills of exchange in addition to those
described in this section, which are of the kind described by section 13 of the
Federal Reserve Act, and which may be eligible for discount under regulations
prescribed from time to time by the Federal Reserve Board.



(c)  No bank shall accept eligible drafts or
bills of exchange, whether in a foreign or domestic transaction, for any one
person, in an amount at any one time exceeding in the aggregate twenty per cent
of its capital and surplus.



(d)  No bank shall accept drafts or bills of
exchange in an amount exceeding at any time in the aggregate one hundred and
fifty per cent of its capital and surplus; provided that the commissioner may
authorize a bank to accept drafts or bills of exchange in an amount not
exceeding at any time in the aggregate two hundred per cent of its capital and
surplus.



(e)  With respect to a bank which issues an
eligible acceptance, the limitations contained in this section shall not apply
to that portion of the eligible acceptance sold under a participation agreement
to another financial institution or to a discounted eligible acceptance that is
no longer held by the bank.



(f)  None of the limitations or restrictions in
this section shall apply to drafts or bills of exchange secured by bonds or
other securities issued by the United States government, by the State or by a
municipality thereof, if the market value of the bonds or other securities
exceeds at the time of acceptance by five per cent the amount of the drafts or
bills of exchange.



(g)  The purchase or discount of banker's
acceptances issued by other banks which are of the kind described in section 13
of the Federal Reserve Act, or which are eligible for discount under
regulations prescribed from time to time by the Federal Reserve Board, shall
not be subject to any limitation based on capital and surplus. [L 1993, c 350,
pt of §1]