§ 6:2 — General definitions

§2. General definitions
As used in this law:
(1) "Bank" means any state bank or any national bank.
(2) "Branch" or "branch office" means any manned office of a bank, including a
branch of an out-of-state bank, other than an automated teller machine, electronic fund
transfer terminal, point of sale terminal, or similar device or terminal. The term "branch" or
"branch office" shall not include a loan production office or deposit production office or any
combination thereof.
(3) "Business of banking" or "banking business" means lending money, and either
receiving deposits, or paying checks anywhere within this state.
(4) "Commercial lender" means any person not otherwise subject to regulation or
required to be licensed under the laws of this state who takes assignment of or defers
payment of any obligation for any domestic corporation, foreign corporation, partnership in
commendam formed pursuant to the laws of this state, foreign limited partnership, or a
partnership in which all of the partners are either corporations, foreign limited partnerships,
partnerships in commendam or partnerships comprised of corporations, foreign limited
partnerships, or partnerships in commendam, or ordinary partnerships or any other person
entering into obligations for commercial or business purposes.
(5) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of financial institutions.
(6) "Credit union" means a financial institution organized in accordance with the
provisions of R.S. 6:641 et seq. or in accordance with similar provisions of the laws of the
United States.
(7)(a) "Electronic financial terminal" means an electronic information processing
device other than a telephone which is established to do either or both of the following:
(i) Capture the data necessary to initiate financial transactions.
(ii) Through its attendant support system store or initiate the transmission of the
information necessary to consummate a financial transaction.
(b) The term includes without limitation point-of-sale terminals, merchant-operated
terminals, cash-dispensing machines, and automated teller machines.
(8) "Financial institution" means any person organized to engage in the business of
banking pursuant to the laws of the United States or any person organized to engage in the
business of banking pursuant to this Title.
(9) "Gross negligence" means a reckless disregard of, or a carelessness amounting
to indifference to the best interests of the corporation or the shareholders thereof, and
involves a substantial deviation below the standard of care expected to be maintained by a
reasonably careful person under like circumstances.
(10) "Mutual state bank" means a form of state bank organized under the provisions
of Chapter 3 of this Title.
(11) "National bank" means any corporation organized under the provisions of the
National Banking Act (12 U.S.C. 1 et seq.).
(12) "Person", unless the context requires limiting the use thereof to only natural
persons, means any natural or juristic person.
(13) "Savings and loan association" means a financial institution organized under the
provisions of Chapter 9 of this Title or a financial institution formed pursuant to 12 U.S.C.
1461 et seq., including homesteads, building and loan associations, savings and loan
associations, state chartered savings banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, or societies, including both capital stock and mutual associations organized
under the laws of this state or such institutions or federal savings banks organized under the
laws of the United States.
(14) "State bank" means any corporation organized under the provisions of Chapter
3 of this Title.
(15) "Temporary scholastic branch" means a branch opened by a state or federally
chartered financial institution on a college or university campus without the necessity of
obtaining a certificate of authority from the commissioner, provided that the services offered
at the facility are only on a temporary basis during registration and for an additional period
of up to seven days per year.
(16) "Trust company" means a corporation or a limited liability trust company
organized under this Chapter or organized under the laws of the United States, including a
trust company organized under the laws of this state before June 27, 2003, or an entity
chartered to act as a fiduciary that is neither a depository institution nor a foreign bank.
(17) "Unsafe and unsound practice or condition" means the inability of a financial
institution to meet its withdrawal requests, the violation of the institution's articles of
incorporation, or the violation of any law or any regulation governing that institution.

Legislative History

Amended by Acts 1976, No. 498, §1; Acts 1984, No. 719, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1985; Acts 1985, No. 716, §1; Acts 1985, No. 359, §2, eff. July 9, 1985; Acts 1986, No. 163, §1; Acts 1992, No. 650, §1, eff. July 2, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 354, §1, eff. June 16, 1995; Acts 1997, No. 42, §2; Acts 1997, No. 929, §1; Acts 2008, No. 124, §1; Acts 2020, No. 183, §1.