§31A-2-5. Certificate or license to engage in business; filing of amendments to charter, bylaws and foreign statutes.

(a) No person shall engage or continue in the business of a financial institution in this state without a license or certificate to do so issued in accordance with this section, or other applicable law, which license or certificate remains unsuspended, unexpired and unrevoked except that a corporation which proposes to apply for such license or certificate may secure its charter, adopt bylaws, elect its directors and officers and perfect its organization.

(b) No person shall operate an office in West Virginia which regularly makes consumer loans in this state other than first mortgage loans unless they are a financial institution, licensed pawnbroker or a federally insured depository institution authorized and qualified to do business in this state. The purchase of consumer paper does not constitute the making of consumer loans for the purposes of this subsection, unless the purchase is made by a business affiliated with the credit provider pursuant to a standing arrangement.

(c) Application for such license or certificate shall be upon such forms and contain such information as the Commissioner may prescribe. In connection with such applications every corporate financial institution shall file a certified copy of its charter and bylaws, a statement as to the amount of capital that has been subscribed and paid in and a statement of its financial condition duly verified under oath by its president or vice president and its cashier or secretary as the case may be and every financial institution other than a corporation shall file a verified statement of its financial condition.

(d) If the application be that of a West Virginia state banking institution, the Commissioner of Banking shall examine the information, documents and statements submitted and, if he or she finds that such banking institution has adopted bylaws which provide practical, safe, just and equitable rules and methods for the management of its business and it has complied in all respects with the provisions of this chapter and other applicable laws, he or she shall issue to it a certificate or license permitting it to engage in business. If the application be that of a financial institution other than a banking institution, the Commissioner of Banking shall examine the information, documents and statements submitted and, if he or she finds that such financial institution has adequate resources for the proposed business and has provided practical, safe, just and equitable rules and methods for the management of its business, and it has complied in all respects with the provisions of this chapter and other applicable laws, and that the public convenience and advantage will be promoted by the issuance of a certificate or license thereto, he or she shall issue to it a certificate or license permitting it to engage in business. Such certificate or license shall be preserved and the original or copy thereof displayed in all the places of business of such banking or other financial institution located in this state.

(e) In addition to the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of this section, every foreign corporation applying for a license or certificate to engage in the business of a financial institution in this state, other than an out-of-state banking institution, shall file with the Commissioner of Banking a copy of the bylaws under which it operates, together with a cite to the statutes of the jurisdiction where it is organized which pertain to its organization and powers and the conduct of its business. The commissioner shall examine the information, documents and statements submitted by such foreign corporation and if he or she finds that they provide practical, safe, just and equitable rules and methods for the management of the business of the corporation, that it has adequate resources for the proposed business and it has complied in all respects with the provisions of this chapter and other applicable laws and that the public convenience and advantage will be promoted by the issuance of a license or certificate thereto, he or she shall issue to such corporation a certificate or license permitting it to engage in business in this state, which certificate or license shall authorize such corporation to engage in the business of the type of financial institution specified therein, until the thirtieth day of the following June. Thereafter a new certificate or license shall be secured annually by any such foreign corporation, except where annual renewal of the license or certificate is specifically not required for the type of institution involved. The fee for the original and each additional license or certificate issued to a foreign corporation shall be $100, unless otherwise provided by statute. A verified statement of the financial condition of every such foreign corporation shall be filed with the Commissioner before the issuance of each annual certificate or license. Such certificate or license shall be preserved and the original or copy thereof displayed in the West Virginia place of business of such corporation.

(f) Unless the institution is a federally insured depository institution or it is otherwise provided for by statute, a new certificate or license shall be secured annually by all domestic state financial institutions and the fee for the original and each additional license or certificate shall be $100.

(g) No amendment of the charter or bylaws of any domestic or foreign corporation, other than an out-of-state banking institution, engaging in business in this state as a financial institution shall become effective until the proposed change shall have been submitted to and approved by the Commissioner of Banking; but, if the Commissioner does not disapprove such proposed change within twenty days after it is received by him or her, it shall be deemed to have been approved.

(h) Unless specifically provided for by this chapter, nothing contained in this code shall authorize any person to engage in the banking business in this state except corporations chartered to conduct a banking business under the laws of West Virginia and which hold a license or certificate to do so issued under this section, limited liability companies organized to conduct a banking business under the laws of West Virginia and which hold a license or certificate to do so under this section or associations authorized to conduct a banking business in West Virginia under the laws of the United States and having their principal place of business in this state.