Reading Room Document

Clarification of Prior Opinion Regarding Borrowing by Bank Examiners

18 U.S.C. § 213, which prohibits federal bank examiners from borrowing from Federal Reserve member banks or other entities subject to examination by them, does not prohibit such examiners from receiving loans or credit from affiliates of covered banks merely because such affiliates are under "common control" with the bank or because the covered bank and the affiliate have a common majority of corporate officers or directors. An examiner would be prohibited from borrowing from such an affiliated entity, where the affiliate is serving as a conduit or "front" for the implementation of a loan that is actually extended due to the direction, instigation, or influence of the affiliated member bank or person connected therewith. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/20421/download.

December 20, 1993