§ 16-62-9. Bonds and notes of the authority.
(a) The authority shall have the power and is authorized to issue its negotiable bonds
and notes in one or more series in any principal amounts as in the opinion of the
authority shall be necessary to provide sufficient funds for achieving its purposes,
including the payment of interest on bonds and notes of the authority; the establishment
of reserves to secure these bonds and notes; and the making of all other expenditures
of the authority incident to and necessary or convenient to carrying out its corporate
purposes and powers.
(b) All bonds and notes issued by the authority may be secured by the full faith and credit
of the authority; or may be payable solely out of revenues and receipts derived from
the pledge or assignment of, grant of security interest in, or sale of eligible loans
or education loans owned by it, or any part of it; or out of receipts upon repayment
of any eligible loans or education loans or any part of these made to students or
to parents, legal guardians, or sponsors of students, or to institutions or lenders;
or upon the undisbursed proceeds of the bonds or notes; or upon guaranty payments
of principal and interest on eligible loans; or upon interest subsidy payments; or
upon investment earnings of any of these revenues, receipts, proceeds or payments;
or upon any other form of security available to the authority for this purpose, all
as may be designated in the proceedings of the authority under which the bonds or
notes shall be authorized to be issued. The bonds and notes may be executed and delivered
by the authority at any time; may be in any form and denominations and of any tenor
and maturities; and may be in bearer form or in registered form, as to principal and
interest or as to principal alone, all as the authority may determine.
(c) Bonds may be payable in any installments, and at any times not exceeding forty (40)
years from their date, as shall be determined by the authority.
(d) Notes, and any renewals of notes, may be payable in any installments and at any times
not exceeding ten (10) years from the date of the original issue of the notes, as
shall be determined by the authority.
(e) Bonds and notes may be payable at any places, whether within or without the state;
may bear interest at any rate or rates payable at any time or times and at any place
or places and evidenced in any manner; and may contain any provisions not inconsistent
with this section, all as shall be provided in the proceedings of the authority under
which they shall be authorized to be issued.
(f) There may be retained, by provisions made in the proceedings under which any bonds
or notes of the authority are authorized to be issued, an option to redeem all or
any part of these, at any prices and upon any notice, and on any further terms and
conditions as shall be set forth on the record of those proceedings and on the face
of the bonds or notes.
(g) Any bonds or notes of the authority may be sold at any prices, at public or private
sale, and in any manner as shall be determined by the authority, and the authority
shall pay all expenses, premiums, and commissions as it shall deem necessary or advantageous
in connection with the issuance and sale of these.
(h) Money of the authority, including without limitation: revenues, receipts, proceeds,
payments, or earnings listed in subsection (b), may be invested and reinvested in
any obligations, securities, and other investments consistent with the purposes of
this chapter, including, but not limited to, bonds and notes of the authority as shall
be specified in the resolutions under which the bonds or notes are authorized. In
no case shall such investment in bonds or notes of the authority constitute an extinguishment
of the obligations represented by such bonds and notes.
(i) Issuance by the authority of one or more series of bonds or notes for one or more
purposes shall not preclude it from issuing other bonds or notes for the same purpose,
or purposes, but the proceedings where any subsequent bonds or notes may be issued
shall recognize and protect a prior pledge or mortgage made for a prior issue of bonds
or notes unless, in the proceedings authorizing the prior issue, the right is reserved
to issue subsequent bonds or notes on a parity with that prior issue.
(j) The authority is authorized to issue bonds or notes for the purpose of refunding its
bonds or notes outstanding, including the payment of any redemption premium on them
and any interest accrued, or to accrue, to the earliest or subsequent date of redemption,
purchase, or maturity of the bonds or notes. The proceeds of bonds or notes, issued
for the purpose of refunding outstanding bonds or notes may be applied, in the discretion
of the authority, to the purchase, retirement at maturity, or redemption of the outstanding
bonds or notes either on their earliest or a subsequent redemption date, and may,
pending that application, be placed in escrow. These escrowed proceeds may be invested,
and reinvested, in obligations of, or guaranteed by, the United States, or in certificates
of deposit or time deposits or repurchase agreements, fully secured or guaranteed
by the state or the United States, or an instrumentality of either, maturing at any
time or times as shall be appropriate to assure the prompt payment, as to principal,
interest, and redemption premium, if any, of the outstanding bonds or notes to be
refunded. The interest, income, and profits, if any, earned or realized on this investment,
may also be applied to the payment of the outstanding bonds or notes to be refunded.
After the terms of the escrow have been fully satisfied and carried out, any balance
of the proceeds and interest, income, and profits, if any, earned or realized on the
investments of these, may be returned to the authority for use by it in furtherance
of its purposes. All these bonds or notes shall be issued and secured and shall be
subject to the provisions of this chapter in the manner, and to the same extent, as
any other bonds or notes issued pursuant to this chapter.
(k) The directors, officers of the authority, and other persons executing the bonds shall
not be subject to personal liability or accountability by reason of the issuance of
these.
(l) Bonds or notes may be issued under the provisions of this chapter without obtaining
the consent of any department, division, commission, board, body, bureau, or agency
of the state, and without any other proceedings, conditions, or things other than
those proceedings, conditions, or things that are specifically required by this chapter
and by the provisions of the resolution authorizing the issuance of those bonds or
notes or the trust agreement securing this.
(m) The authority, subject to any agreements with noteholders or bondholders as may then
be in force, shall have power, out of any funds available for this, to purchase bonds
or notes of the authority, which shall then be cancelled, at a price not exceeding:
(1) If the bonds or notes are then redeemable, the redemption price then applicable plus
accrued interest to the next interest payment date; or
(2) If the bonds or notes are not then redeemable, the redemption price applicable on
the earliest date that the bonds or notes become subject to redemption, plus the interest
that would have accrued to that date.
(n) Whether or not the bonds and notes are of the form and character as to be negotiable
instruments under the terms of the Rhode Island Uniform Commercial Code, title 6A,
the bonds and notes are made negotiable instruments within the meaning of, and for
all of the purposes of, the Rhode Island Uniform Commercial Code, subject only to
the provisions of the bonds and notes for registration.
(o) If a director or officer of the authority whose signature appears on the bonds, notes,
or coupons shall cease to be a director or officer before the delivery of those bonds
or notes, that signature shall be valid and sufficient for all purposes, as if the
director or officer had remained in office until the delivery.
(p) The authority shall also have the power out of any funds available to purchase bonds
and notes of the authority if the authority determines that such purchases will stabilize
or make the market for the authority's bonds more efficient. Such purchases shall
not result in the extinguishment of the debt of the authority represented by such
bonds or notes. At the discretion of the authority, such bonds and notes may be held
until the purpose of the purchase has been effected and then sold to the market or
used as a credit against future redemptions or maturities.