§ 1410 — Boards of trade and chambers of commerce

§ 1410. Boards of trade and chambers of commerce.\n (a) Definitions.\n (1) A board of trade is a corporation formed for the purpose of\nfostering trade and commerce, or the interests of those having a common\ntrade, business, financial or professional interest, to reform abuses\nrelative thereto, to secure freedom from unjust or unlawful exactions,\nto diffuse accurate and reliable information as to the standing of\nmerchants and other matters, to procure uniformity and certainty in the\ncustoms and usages of trade and commerce, and of those having a common\ntrade, business, financial or professional interest; to settle and\nadjust differences between its members and others and to promote a more\nenlarged and friendly intercourse among business people; to advance the\ncivic, commercial, industrial and agricultural interests of the\nterritory where the corporation is situate; to promote the general\nwelfare and prosperity of such territory and to stimulate public\nsentiment to these ends; and to provide such civic, commercial,\nindustrial, agricultural and social features as will promote these\npurposes.\n (2) A chamber of commerce is a corporation, the members of which are\nin diverse lines of business, membership in which is not restricted to,\nnor in practice consists primarily of, persons, partnerships or\ncorporations engaged in or carrying on the same, allied or\ninterdependent lines of business, and which is formed for the purpose of\nfostering trade and commerce, or the interests of those carrying on such\ntrade and commerce; to promote the general welfare and prosperity of the\nstate, territory or community in which such corporation is situate; to\nreform abuses involving business, professional or financial interests,\nto secure freedom from unjust or unlawful exactions, to diffuse accurate\nand reliable information as to the standing of merchants and other\nmatters, to procure uniformity and certainty in the customs and usages\nof trade and commerce; to settle and adjust differences between its\nmembers and others, and to promote a more enlarged and friendly\nintercourse among businessmen; to advance the civic, commercial,\nindustrial and agricultural interests of the territory where the\ncorporation is situate; to provide such features as will promote these\npurposes, and to stimulate public sentiment to these ends. A corporation\nformed before the first day of January, eighteen hundred seventy-five,\nthe purposes and activities of which are those of a chamber of commerce\nas herein defined, shall be a chamber of commerce regardless of its\nname, and shall not be required to change its existing name by reason of\nthis subparagraph.\n (b) Type of corporation.\n A board of trade or a chamber of commerce is a non-charitable\ncorporation under this chapter.\n (c) Special powers.\n (1) A board of trade or a chamber of commerce organized for the\npurposes set forth in paragraph (a), shall have the power to be\nappointed and to act under the order or appointment of any court of\ncompetent jurisdiction as receiver or trustee of the property or estate\nof any person or corporation in insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings,\nand to act as assignee or trustee for the benefit of creditors in any\ncase in which a member or members of such board of trade or a chamber of\ncommerce are creditors of such insolvent or bankrupt estate; or of such\nassignor for the benefit of creditors; or in any other instance where\nthe purposes of the corporation might reasonably be involved.\n (2) A board of trade or chamber of commerce organized for the purposes\nset forth in paragraph (a) may make loans to its members, directors or\nofficers, or to any other corporation, firm, association or other entity\nin which one or more of its members, directors or officers are directors\nor officers or hold a financial interest, in any case where its board of\ndirectors finds that the making of such loan will be in furtherance of\nits corporate purposes and for a lawful public or quasi-public\nobjective.\n (3) A board of trade organized for the purposes set forth in paragraph\n(a) of this section may make distributions of cash or property to, or\nconfer other benefits upon, its members, or former members, prior to\ndissolution or final liquidation in any case where the board of\ndirectors of such corporation finds that such cash, property or other\nbenefit is not required for the conduct of its corporate purposes;\nprovided, however, that no such action shall be taken when the\ncorporation is currently insolvent or would thereby be made insolvent or\nrendered unable to carry on its corporate purposes, or when the fair\nvalue of the corporation's assets remaining after the taking of such\naction would be insufficient to meet its liabilities.\n (4) A board of trade organized for the purposes set forth in paragraph\n(a) of this section may provide in its certificate of incorporation or\nby-laws that the members or any class of members shall, with respect to\nany matter on which the members of such class are entitled to vote, have\nmore than, or less than, one vote.\n