republic-os/legal/us/code/title-12/chapter-2/section-72.md

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LegalText	12 U.S.C. § 72	Qualifications	us	united_states_code	code_section	12	BANKS AND BANKING	2	NATIONAL BANKS	72	12 U.S.C. § 72	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc12@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t12/s72	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-12/usc12.xml	d67bc7859eb77c10abd5c5b48598a84deeddfa5239f6a12ad1c07546e57479db	e6b98700ef4156ac33fde5d105824845d727afa91a53f3762be2cf4d1a3b01fa	439db243269a561253b8b3044632ecc53551373d8f7a25b84fd88781887070c3	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

12 U.S.C. § 72 - Qualifications

Text

Every director must, during his whole term of service, be a citizen of the United States, and at least a majority of the directors must have resided in the State, Territory, or District in which the association is located, or within one hundred miles of the location of the office of the association, for at least one year immediately preceding their election, and must be residents of such State or within one-hundred-mile territory of the location of the association during their continuance in office, except that the Comptroller may, in the discretion of the Comptroller, waive the requirement of residency, and waive the requirement of citizenship in the case of not more than a minority of the total number of directors. Every director must own in his or her own right either shares of the capital stock of the association of which he or she is a director the aggregate par value of which is not less than $1,000, or an equivalent interest, as determined by the Comptroller of the Currency, in any company which has control over such association within the meaning of section 1841 of this title. If the capital of the bank does not exceed $25,000, every director must own in his or her own right either shares of such capital stock the aggregate par value of which is not less than $500, or an equivalent interest, as determined by the Comptroller of the Currency, in any company which has control over such association within the meaning of section 1841 of this title. Any director who ceases to be the owner of the required number of shares of the stock, or who becomes in any other manner disqualified, shall thereby vacate his place.

(R.S. § 5146; Feb. 28, 1905, ch. 1163, 33 Stat. 818; Mar. 1, 1921, ch. 100, 41 Stat. 1199; Feb. 25, 1927, ch. 191, § 17, 44 Stat. 1233; Apr. 27, 1956, ch. 215, 70 Stat. 119; Pub. L. 95–369, § 2, Sept. 17, 1978, 92 Stat. 608; Pub. L. 96–221, title VII, § 710, Mar. 31, 1980, 94 Stat. 189; Pub. L. 103–325, title III, § 313, Sept. 23, 1994, 108 Stat. 2221; Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title II, § 2241, Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–418; Pub. L. 106–569, title XII, § 1233(a), Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 3037.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Codification R.S. § 5146 derived from act June 3, 1864, ch. 106, §§ 9, 10, 13 Stat. 102, which was the National Bank Act. See section 38 of this title.

Amendments2000—Pub. L. 106–569 inserted before period at end of first sentence “, and waive the requirement of citizenship in the case of not more than a minority of the total number of directors”. 1996—Pub. L. 104–208 substituted “except that the Comptroller may, in the discretion of the Comptroller, waive the requirement of residency” for “except that in the case of an association which is a subsidiary or affiliate of a foreign bank, the Comptroller of the Currency may in his discretion waive the requirement of citizenship in the case of not more than a minority of the total number of directors” before period at end of first sentence. 1994—Pub. L. 103–325, which directed the substitution of “a majority” for “two thirds”, was executed by making the substitution for “two-thirds” in first sentence to reflect the probable intent of Congress. 1980—Pub. L. 96–221 inserted provisions setting forth additional ownership requirements with respect to equivalent interest determinations by the Comptroller of the Currency. 1978—Pub. L. 95–369 authorized the Comptroller of the Currency, in case of associations which are subsidiaries of affiliates of foreign banks, to waive citizenship requirements of not more than a minority of the total number of directors. 1956—Act Apr. 27, 1956, substituted “two-thirds”, “one hundred”, “one-hundred-mile”, for “three-fourths”, “fifty”, and “fifty-mile”, respectively. 1927—Act Feb. 25, 1927, substituted a minimum value of stock ownership for minimum number of shares in both instances.