§412:6-306  Permitted investments.  (a) 
To the extent specified herein, a savings bank may invest its own assets in:



(1)  Securities and obligations of the United States
government and any agency of the United States government whose debt
obligations are fully and explicitly guaranteed as to the timely payment of
principal and interest by the full faith and credit of the United States,
including without limitation Federal Reserve Banks, the Government National
Mortgage Association, the Veterans Administration, the Federal Housing
Administration, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Export-Import
Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Commodity Credit
Corporation, and the Small Business Administration;



(2)  Bonds, notes, mortgage backed securities, and
other debt obligations of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the
Federal National Mortgage Association, and the Federal Home Loan Banks;



(3)  Securities and obligations of United States
government-sponsored agencies which are originally established or chartered by
the United States government to serve public purposes specified by the Congress
but whose debt obligations are not explicitly guaranteed by the full faith and
credit of the United States, including without limitation Banks for
Cooperatives, Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, Federal Farm Credit
Banks, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, Federal Land Banks, Financing
Corporation, Resolution Funding Corporation, Student Loan Marketing
Association, Tennessee Valley Authority, the United States Postal Service, and
securities and obligations of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the
Federal National Mortgage Association, and the Federal Home Loan Banks that are
not bonds, notes, mortgage backed securities, or other debt obligations of the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage
Association, and the Federal Home Loan Banks; provided that the total amount
invested in obligations of any one issuer shall not exceed twenty per cent of
the bank's capital and surplus; and



(4)  Securities and obligations of quasi-United States
governmental institutions, including without limitation the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the Inter-American Development
Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the European
Investment Bank, and other multilateral lending institutions or regional
development institutions in which the United States government is a shareholder
or contributing member; provided that the total amount invested in obligations
of any one issuer shall not exceed twenty per cent of the bank's capital and
surplus.



(b)  A savings bank may invest its own assets
in bonds, securities, or similar obligations issued by this State or any county
of this State, through an appropriate agency or instrumentality.



(c)  To the extent specified herein, a savings
bank may invest its own assets in bonds or similar obligations issued by any
state of the United States other than this State, the District of Columbia, or
any territory or possession of the United States, by municipal governments of
such states, territories or possessions or by any foreign country or political
subdivision of such country; provided, that:



(1)  The bond, note, or warrant has been issued in
compliance with the constitution and laws of any such government;



(2)  There has been no default in payment of either
principal or interest on any of the general obligations of such government for
a period of five years immediately preceding the date of the investment; and



(3)  The total amount invested in such obligations of
any one issuer by a savings bank shall not exceed twenty per cent of the
savings bank's capital and surplus.



(d)  To the extent specified herein, a savings
bank may invest its own assets in notes, bonds, and other obligations of any
corporation which at the time of the investment is incorporated under the laws
of the United States or any state or territory thereof or the District of
Columbia; provided, that the aggregate amount invested by a savings bank under
this subsection and subsection (e) in any one corporation shall not exceed
twenty per cent of the savings bank's capital and surplus.



(e)  To the extent specified herein, a savings
bank may invest its own assets in securities of an investment grade.  The term
"investment grade" means notes, bonds, certificates of interest or
participation, beneficial interest, mortgage or receivable-related securities,
and other obligations that are commonly understood to be of investment grade
quality, including without limitation those securities that are rated within
the four highest grades by any nationally-recognized rating service or unrated
securities of similar quality as reasonably determined by the savings bank in
its prudent judgment, which may be based in part upon estimates which it
believes to be reliable.  Investment grade does not include investments which
are predominantly speculative in nature.  The aggregate amount invested by a
savings bank under this subsection and subsection (d) in any one company or
other issuer shall not exceed twenty per cent of the savings bank's capital and
surplus.



(f)  To the extent specified herein, a savings
bank may purchase, hold, convey, sell or lease real or personal property as follows:



(1)  The real property in or on which the business of
the savings bank is carried on, including its offices, other space in the same
property to rent as a source of income; permanent or vacation residences or
recreational facilities for its officers and employees; other real property
necessary to the accommodation of the savings bank's business, including but
not limited to parking facilities, data processing centers, and real property
held for future use where the savings bank in good faith expects to utilize the
property as its premises; provided, if the savings bank ceases to use any real
property and improvements thereon for one of the foregoing purposes, it shall,
within five years thereafter, sell the real property or cease to carry it or
them as an asset; provided further, such property shall not, without the
approval of the commissioner, exceed seventy-five per cent of the savings
bank's capital and surplus;



(2)  Personal property used in or necessary to the
accommodation of the savings bank's business, including but not limited to
furniture, fixtures, equipment, vaults and safety deposit boxes.  The savings
bank's investment in furniture and fixtures shall not, without the approval of
the commissioner, exceed twenty-five per cent of the savings bank's capital and
surplus;



(3)  Personal and real property which the savings bank
acquires for the purpose of leasing to its subsidiaries and affiliates;



(4)  Such real property or tangible personal property
as may come into its possession as security for loans or in the collection of
debts, or as may be purchased by or conveyed to the savings bank in
satisfaction of or on account of debts previously contracted in the course of
its business when such property was held as security by the savings bank; and



(5)  The seller's interest under an agreement of sale,
as that term is defined in sections 501-101.5 and 502-85, including without
limitation the reversionary interest in the real estate and the right to income
under the agreement of sale, with or without recourse to the seller.



Except as otherwise authorized in this section
any tangible personal property acquired by a savings bank pursuant to
subsection (f)(4) shall be disposed of as soon as practicable and shall not
without the written consent of the commissioner, be considered a part of the
assets of the savings bank after the expiration of two years from the date of
acquisition.



Except as otherwise authorized in this section
any real property acquired by a savings bank pursuant to subsection (f)(4) shall
be sold or exchanged for other real property by the savings bank within five
years after title thereto has vested in it by purchase or otherwise, or within
such further time as may be granted by the commissioner.



Any savings bank acquiring any real property in
any manner other than provided by this section shall immediately, upon
receiving notice from the commissioner, charge the same to profit and loss, or
otherwise remove the same from the assets, and when any loss impairs the
capital and surplus of the savings bank the impairment shall be made good in
the manner provided in this chapter.



(g)  A savings bank may own or control the
capital stock:



(1)  Of operating subsidiaries as set forth in this
article;



(2)  Of a corporation organized and existing for the
ownership of real or personal property used or which the savings bank in good
faith expects to be used in the savings bank's business;



(3)  Of the Federal National Mortgage Association, the
Student Loan Marketing Association, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or
of any other corporation organized for substantially the same purposes;
provided that this subsection shall be deemed to authorize subscription for as
well as purchase of the stock;



(4)  Of small business investment companies operating
under the Federal Small Business Investment Act of 1958;



(5)  Of service corporations as set forth in this
article;



(6)  Of a corporation whose stock is acquired or
purchased to save a loss on a preexisting debt secured by such stock; provided,
that the stock shall be sold within twelve months of the date acquired or
purchased, or within such further time as may be granted by the commissioner;
and



(7)  Of a captive insurance or association captive
insurance company incorporated under the laws of the United States, or any
state or territory thereof or the District of Columbia.



(h)  To the extent specified herein, a savings
bank may invest its own assets in limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, limited liability companies, or
corporations



formed to invest in residential properties that will
qualify for the low income housing tax credit under section 42 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and under chapters 235 and 241; provided that
the total amount invested by a savings bank under this subsection in any one
limited partnership, limited liability
partnership, limited liability company, or corporation shall not,
without the prior approval of the commissioner, exceed two per cent of the
savings bank's capital and surplus and the aggregate amount invested under this
subsection shall not, without the prior approval of the commissioner, exceed
five per cent of the savings bank's capital and surplus.  In no case shall the
aggregate amount invested by a savings bank under this subsection exceed ten
per cent of the savings bank's capital and surplus. [L 1993, c 350, pt of §1;
am L 1995, c 48, §2; am L 1997, c 258, §15; am L 2001, c 170, §8; am L 2006, c
228, §36; am L 2009, c 107, §3]