16 - Restrictions on officers and employees of the department; penalty. - New York Statutes

§ 16. Restrictions on officers and employees of the department; penalty. 1. No officer or employee of the department shall obtain a loan from any banking organization, licensed mortgage banker, licensed lender or foreign corporation licensed by the superintendent to do business in this state, or receive, either directly or indirectly, from any such banking organization, licensed mortgage banker, licensed lender or foreign corporation, or from any officer, director, trustee or employee thereof, any sum of money or other valuable thing by way of gift, credit or otherwise; or be an owner, partner, officer, director, trustee or employee of any banking organization, licensed mortgage banker, licensed lender or foreign corporation licensed by the superintendent to do business in this state, or own or deal in, either directly or indirectly, the stocks or obligations of any such banking organization, licensed mortgage banker, licensed lender or foreign corporation. A violation of the provisions of this section by any deputy, examiner, clerk, special agent or other employee shall constitute sufficient grounds for his or her removal by the superintendent. 2. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an employee from obtaining first lien financing upon his or her own home, provided that the premises securing such loan are occupied by such employee, and further provided that such loan is reported to the department, which shall keep a record thereof. The term "home," for the purposes of this section, shall mean a single family or two family residence, condominium apartment or cooperative apartment, occupied in whole or in part, by the deputy, examiner, clerk, special agent or other employee of the department. The term "cooperative apartment" means a residence where ownership is evidenced by certificates of stock or other evidence of an ownership interest in, and a proprietary lease from, a corporation or partnership formed for the purpose of the cooperative ownership of real estate. 3. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an employee from: (a) obtaining a loan secured by an assignment of his or her deposit in a banking organization, or an assignment or pledge of his or her shares in a savings and loan association or credit union; (b) obtaining from a savings bank which has established a life insurance department pursuant to article VI-A of this chapter one or more policies of insurance and one or more annuity policies, receiving dividends on such policies and pledging such policies as security for a loan from said banking organization to the extent of the cash surrender value thereof; (c) accepting dealer financing of an automobile, truck or other personal property for the sole reason that the financing company is chartered under article XII of this chapter; or (d) owning shares of an investment company (mutual fund) that may incidentally invest in the stock of banking institutions, provided that the purpose of the investment portfolio of such investment company may not be to invest primarily or exclusively in the shares of banking institutions. For purposes of this section, investment companies include open-end and closed-end investment companies and unit investment trusts as those terms are defined in an Act of Congress entitled "The Investment Company Act of 1940," as amended. 4. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to extend the powers of any banking organization or licensed mortgage banker to make such mortgage and other loans.