Georgia Amends Provisions Relating to Financial Institutions and Enacts the Uniform Power of Attorney Act
House Bill 221
The Georgia state legislature recently passed House Bill 221 enacting the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (the Act).
Power of attorney is defined by the regulation as “a writing or other record that grants authority to a person to act in the place of an individual, whether or not such term is used.”
Article 1 of the Act outlines the definitions, applicability, validity, meaning, effect and termination of a power of attorney. Additionally, Article 1 outlines the appointment of agents, coagents, and successor agents, their duties, responsibilities, liability, authority, and compensation.
Article 2 of the Act includes provisions regarding the general and specific authority that a principal may give an agent in a power of attorney.
Article 3 of the Act includes the forms: “Statutory Form Power of Attorney” and “Agent’s Certification as to the Validity of Power of Attorney and Agent’s Authority.”
The Uniform Power of Attorney Act is effective as of July 1, 2017.
House Bill 143
The Georgia state legislature passed House Bill 143 relating to the regulation of financial institutions. The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (the Department) issued the following bulletin in April 2017 concerning the new revisions outlined under House Bill 143:
“The bill revises statutory provisions governing most of the entities regulated by the Department – banks, credit unions, trust companies, bank holding companies, money service businesses, and mortgage lenders and brokers – as well as certain provisions addressing the Department’s general powers.
Among other items, the bill:
- empowers the Department to issue stand-alone trust company charters;
- permits all trust companies that are chartered out of state to act as a fiduciary in Georgia;
- streamlines the legal lending limit calculation for banks;
- authorizes the imposition of convenience fees for the handling of electronic payments;
- clarifies the Department’s ability to examine and regulate third-party service providers;
- modifies the age at which a minor can open a bank account only in his or her name;
- confirms that state-chartered institutions can conduct business on Sunday;
- limits the ability of credit unions to accept uninsured deposits;
- provides parity with federal credit unions by including employment within a geographic field of membership;
- eliminates the requirement that the Department approve all fixed asset investments by credit unions;
- enables credit unions to purchase whole loans from a financial institution; and
- increases the required bond amount for mortgage brokers and mortgage lenders.
House Bill 143 can be viewed at: https://gov.georgia.gov/sites/gov.georgia.gov/files/related_files/document/HB%20143%202017.pdf.
The Department strongly encourages every regulated entity to review the bill to ensure a thorough understanding of all the applicable revisions.
The Department will issue proposed rules and regulations in May to, among other items, implement some of the statutory changes contained in House Bill 143.”
Margaret Wright, JD, is regulatory compliance director with CLA. She is a graduate of Stonehill College and earned her juris doctor at Suffolk University Law School. She is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.
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