California · Financial Code

FIN §1703: (a) Not less than 30 days before establishing a facility, an insured foreign (other state) bank shall file with the commissioner, in the form that the commissioner may by regulation or order require,

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

Foreign banks must file an appointment with the commissioner designating them to receive legal service in noncriminal proceedings arising from the bank's in-state activities, or are deemed to have done so by operating a facility.

Read the full statutory text
(a) Not less than 30 days before establishing a facility, an insured foreign (other state) bank shall file with the commissioner, in the form that the commissioner may by regulation or order require, an appointment irrevocably appointing the commissioner and the commissioner’s successor from time to time in office to be the bank’s attorney to receive service of any lawful process in any noncriminal judicial or administrative proceeding against the bank or any of its successors that arises out of the activities in this state of the facility after the appointment has been filed, with the same force and validity as if served personally on the bank or its successors, as the case may be. (b) Any insured foreign (other state) bank that maintains a facility and that has not filed with the commissioner an appointment pursuant to subdivision (a) is deemed by the maintenance of the facility to have appointed the commissioner as its attorney to receive service of any lawful process in any noncriminal judicial or administrative proceeding against the bank or any of its successors that arises out of the activities in this state of the facility, with the same force and validity as if served personally on the bank or its successor, as the case may be. (c) Service may be made on an uninsured foreign (other state) bank that has appointed or is deemed to have appointed the commissioner as its attorney for service of process by leaving a copy of the process at any office of the commissioner. However, the service is not effective unless (1) the party making the service, who may be the commissioner, forthwith sends notice of the service and a copy of the process by registered or certified mail to the bank served at the last address on file with the commissioner for any of the bank’s offices in this state or at its head office, and (2) an affidavit of compliance with this subdivision by the party making the service is filed in the case on or before the return date, if any, or within any further time that the court, in the case of a judicial proceeding, or the administrative agency, in the case of an administrative proceeding, allows.

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