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48.38 Powers and duties.

Subdivision 1. Any such bank which has complied with the terms of sections 48.36 to 48.43, and holds a certificate as above provided, may exercise the powers and privileges set forth in this section.

Subd. 2. It may take and hold in trust any real or personal property, wherever situated, by order, judgment, or decree of any court, or by gift, grant, assignment, transfer, devise, legacy, or bequest from, or by lawful contract with, any public or private corporation or any individual or copartnership, and manage the same upon the terms and conditions therein declared or imposed; it may act as agent for the signatures, countersignatures, registration, transfer, or redemption of certificates of stock, bonds, coupons, or other evidences of indebtedness, and as trustee under mortgages in the form of trust deeds, and may otherwise act as general or special agent or attorney in fact in the acquisition, management, sale, assignment, transfer, encumbrance, conveyance, or other disposition of any real or personal property, in the collection of rents, payment of taxes, and generally as the representative of any person, corporation, or copartnership; it may guarantee the title to securities sold and transferred by it.

Subd. 3. It may take and hold on deposit or for safekeeping, money, bonds, stocks, or other securities, or personal property, which any public officer or any trustee or other legal representative or any public or private corporation or any person may desire, or may be authorized, ordered, or otherwise required by law to deposit in a safe depository or to pay into any court of record, and the same may, instead thereof, be deposited with such bank, and where the deposit is made pursuant to order of court in such bank as the court shall designate and depositor takes the receipt of such bank therefor, thereupon the depositor and the depositor's sureties shall be relieved from liability thereafter accruing on account thereof, so long as the deposits continue.

Subd. 4. It may act as assignee under any assignment for the benefit of creditors, or be appointed as a trustee, receiver, guardian, executor, or administrator, and may accept and perform any other lawful trust conferred by any court or by any corporation or individual. In the acceptance and performance of any such trust no oath or security shall be required.

Subd. 5. When any judge or court having jurisdiction deems it expedient, the judge or court may direct any executor, administrator, guardian, assignee, receiver, or other trustee to deposit with the bank any securities belonging to the trust subject to the order of the trustee when countersigned by the judge of the court, and the court may fix the security to be given by the trustee with reference only to the remainder of the trust estate. No such securities shall be withdrawn nor any part of the principal or interest thereof collected, except by an officer of the bank, without the order of a judge of the court duly entered and certified, upon satisfactory proof that additional security has been furnished by the trustee or that the estate or fund has been so reduced that the deposit is no longer required.

Subd. 6. It may invest all moneys received by it in trust, in authorized securities, and shall be responsible to the owner or cestui que trust for the validity, regularity, quality, value, and genuineness of these investments and securities at the time made and for the safekeeping of these securities and the evidences thereof. When special directions are given in any order, judgment, decree, will, or other written instrument as to the particular manner or the particular class or kind of securities or property in which any investment shall be made, it shall follow this direction and, in such case, it shall not be further responsible by reason of the performance of the trust.

It may, in its discretion, retain and continue any investment and security or securities coming into its possession in any fiduciary capacity. For the faithful discharge of its duties and the discharge of its trust, it shall be entitled to reasonable compensation or such amount as has been or may be agreed upon by the parties and all necessary expenses, with legal interest thereon.

In the absence of an express prohibition in the trust instrument, the trustee may acquire and retain securities of any open-end or closed-end management type investment company or investment trust registered under the Federal Investment Company Act of 1940. The fact that the banking institution, or any affiliate of the banking institution, is providing services to the investment company or trust as investment advisor, sponsor, broker, distributor, custodian, transfer agent, registrar, or otherwise, and receiving compensation for the services shall not preclude the trustee from investing in the securities of that investment company or trust. The banking institution shall disclose to all current income beneficiaries of the trust the rate, formula, and method of the compensation. This paragraph does not alter the degree of care and judgment required of trustees by section 501B.151.

No compensation or commission paid or agreed to be paid to it for the negotiation of any loan or the execution of any trust shall be deemed interest within the meaning of the law, nor shall any excess thereof over the legal rate be deemed usury.

Subd. 7. Except as provided in this subdivision, any amount not less than $500 received by it as representative or trustee or by order of the court, not required for the purposes of the trust and not to be accounted for within one year, it shall invest, as above provided, in authorized securities then held by it or specially procured by it. Except as may be otherwise provided in the governing will, trust agreement, court order or other instrument, any amount in any one trust account, may be invested in certificates of deposit or savings accounts in the same bank, or any other bank or banks provided such certificates of deposit or savings accounts are fully insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation and receive the prevailing rate of interest on such certificates or savings accounts.

Subd. 8. It may invest its funds in authorized securities, as defined by law, and the provisions of section 48.24 limiting the amount of liability of any person, corporation, or copartnership, with reference to a percentage of the capital and surplus of the bank, shall not apply to its investments in authorized securities.

HIST: (7663) 1923 c 274 s 3; 1957 c 601 s 17; 1963 c 153 s 7; 1965 c 171 s 19; 1967 c 229 s 1; 1986 c 444; 1992 c 473 s 3; 1996 c 314 s 1

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes