§92. Acting as insurance agent or broker

In addition to the powers now vested by law in national banking associations organized under the laws of the United States any such association located and doing business in any place the population of which does not exceed five thousand inhabitants, as shown by the last preceding decennial census, may, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Comptroller of the Currency, act as the agent for any fire, life, or other insurance company authorized by the authorities of the State in which said bank is located to do business in said State, by soliciting and selling insurance and collecting premiums on policies issued by such company; and may receive for services so rendered such fees or commissions as may be agreed upon between the said association and the insurance company for which it may act as agent: Provided, however, That no such bank shall in any case assume or guarantee the payment of any premium on insurance policies issued through its agency by its principal: And provided further, That the bank shall not guarantee the truth of any statement made by an assured in filing his application for insurance.

(Dec. 23, 1913, ch. 6, §13 (par.), as added Sept. 7, 1916, ch. 461, 39 Stat. 753 ; amended Pub. L. 97–320, title IV, §403(b), Oct. 15, 1982, 96 Stat. 1511 .)

Editorial Notes

Codification

Section is based on the eleventh par. of section 13 of act Dec. 23, 1913, as amended. The eleventh par. constituted the ninth par. of section 13 in 1916 (39 Stat. 752, 753), became the tenth par. in 1923 (42 Stat. 1478), and became the eleventh par. in 1932 (47 Stat. 715). For further details, see Codification notes under sections 342 to 344 of this title.

For decision by U.S. Supreme Court that, despite faulty placement of quotation marks, act Sept. 7, 1916, placed within section 13 of act Dec. 23, 1913, each of the ten pars. located between the phrases that introduced the amendments to sections 13 and 14 of said act, that only the seventh par. (rather than seventh to tenth pars.) comprised the amended R.S. §5202, and that section 20 of act Apr. 5, 1918 (40 Stat. 512) (which amended R.S. §5202 comprised of a single par.), did not amend section 13 of said act so as to repeal the eighth to tenth pars., see United States National Bank of Oregon v. Independent Insurance Agents of America, Inc., et al., 508 U.S. 439, 113 S.Ct. 2173, 124 L.Ed. 2d 402 (1993). As the result of subsequent amendments, such seventh to tenth pars. of section 13 now constitute the ninth to twelfth pars. The ninth par. amended former section 82 of this title, and the tenth to twelfth pars. are classified to sections 361, 92, and 373, respectively, of this title.

Amendments

1982-Pub. L. 97–320 struck out "; and may also act as the broker or agent for others in making or procuring loans on real estate located within one hundred miles of the place in which said bank may be located, receiving for such services a reasonable fee or commission" after "may act as agent" and "guarantee either the principal or interest of any such loans or" after "shall in any case".

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1982 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 97–320 effective upon the expiration of 180 days after Oct. 15, 1982, see section 403(c) of Pub. L. 97–320, set out as a note under section 371 of this title.

Moratorium

Pub. L. 100–86, title II, §201(a), (b)(5), Aug. 10, 1987, 101 Stat. 581 , 583, provided that, during period beginning Mar. 6, 1987, and ending Mar. 1, 1988, national banks and Federal branches or agencies of foreign banks could not expand their insurance agency activities pursuant to this section into places where they were not conducting such activities as of Mar. 5, 1987.