Article 5. Miscellaneous of California Financial Code >> Division 1.1. >> Chapter 16. >> Article 5.

A trust company has the following powers:
  (a) It may act, or may be appointed by any court to act, in like manner as an individual, as executor, administrator, guardian or conservator of estates, assignee, receiver, depositary, trustee, custodian, or in any other fiduciary or representative capacity for any purpose permitted by law, may act as transfer agent or registrar of corporate stocks and bonds, may buy and sell securities for the account of customers, and may accept and execute any trust business permitted by any law of this or any other state or of the United States to be taken, accepted, or executed by an individual; and
  (b) A trust company, upon becoming a member of the Federal Reserve System, shall continue to have such powers as may then or thereafter be conferred upon it by the laws of this state, subject to such federal rules, regulations, and laws as may govern state banks exercising trust powers or trust companies which become members of the Federal Reserve System.

For the purposes of this chapter, all trusts and other business permitted to be accepted or executed by a trust company are hereby classified and defined as either court trusts or private trusts. A "court trust" is one in which a trust company acts under appointment, order, or decree of any court, as executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, assignee, receiver, depositary, or trustee, or in which it receives on deposit money or property from a public administrator, under any provision of this code, or from any executor, administrator, guardian, assignee, receiver, depositary, or trustee, under any order or decree of any court. A "private trust" is every other trust, agency, fiduciary relationship, or representative capacity.

A trust company, its officers and employees, shall not disclose any information to any person concerning the existence, condition, management, and administration of any private trust confided to it, except:
  (a) Where such disclosure is specifically authorized by the terms of the trust.
  (b) Where such disclosure is determined by an officer of the trust company to be necessary in the administration of such trust.
  (c) Where such disclosure is required by a court of competent jurisdiction or by a subpoena issued by an attorney pursuant to Section 1985 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
  (d) Where such disclosure is made to, or upon the instructions of, any party executing the trust instrument.
  (e) Where such disclosure refers to an irrevocable trust, to, or upon the instructions of, any beneficiary thereunder whether or not presently entitled to receive benefits therefrom.
  (f) Where such disclosure is made to the commissioner in the course of an examination.

The commissioner shall examine the court trust business of a trust company at least once every 24 months and shall examine the private trust business at such times and to such extent as he or she may deem necessary or advisable.

In making the reports to the commissioner required by this division, every trust company shall report, in addition to the other facts called for, separately, the amount of real property and the amount of personal property held by such trust company in both its court trusts and in its private trusts.

Any court having jurisdiction of any executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, assignee, receiver, depositary, or trustee, upon the application of any such officer or trustee or upon the application of any person having an interest in the estate or property administered by such officer or trustee, after such notice to the other parties in interest as the court may direct, or without notice if all parties in interest consent thereto, and after a hearing upon such application, may authorize or direct such officer or trustee, whether such person has duly qualified or not, to deposit any moneys then in his hands or which may come into his hands thereafter, and such portion or all of the personal assets of such estate as the court shall deem proper for safekeeping, with any such trust company. Upon such deposit being made the court shall by an order of record reduce the bond to be given, or theretofore given, by such officer or trustee so as to cover only the estate remaining in the hands of such officer or trustee. The money and property so deposited shall thereupon and thereafter be held by such trust company under the order and direction of the court. Such trust company shall not be required to give any bond or security, except as provided in this division, in case of any deposit of moneys or other personal assets with it under this section. Its responsibility for the safekeeping of personal assets so deposited with it shall be that of a bailee for hire.

Securities held by a trust company by direction of any court order issued pursuant to Section 1605 may be deposited in a securities depository, as defined in Section 30004, which is licensed under Section 30200 or exempted from licensing thereunder by Section 30005 or 30006.

Whenever an executor, administrator, guardian or conservator of estates, assignee, receiver, depositary, or trustee is required to qualify by taking and subscribing an oath or to make an affidavit, any trust company acting in any such capacity may satisfy such requirement by the oath or affidavit of its president, vice president, secretary, assistant secretary, manager, trust officer, or assistant trust officer. Any such trust company shall be liable for its failure to perform any of the duties required by law to be performed by an individual acting in like capacity and shall be subject to the same penalties for such failure as would be applicable to an individual.

Whenever any corporation desires to withdraw from and discontinue doing a trust business, it shall furnish to the commissioner satisfactory evidence of its release and discharge from all the obligations and trusts which it has assumed or which have been imposed on it by law. Thereupon the commissioner shall revoke his or her certificate of authority to do a trust business, and the State Treasurer shall return to it all of the securities deposited by it. Thereafter such corporation shall not be permitted to use and shall not use the word "trust" in its corporate name, or in connection with its business.

The validity or legality of any act or proceeding done or taken by any trust company, relating to or in connection with the administration of its court and private trusts, shall not be affected or impaired by the neglect or failure of such trust company, or of any officer or employee thereof, to comply with any of the provisions of this division. All such acts and proceedings done or taken prior to the revocation of its certificate of authority to do a trust business by the commissioner, under the provisions of this division, or the revocation by any court or judge thereof of the appointment, order, or decree theretofore entered in such trust matter, shall be as valid and effective for all purposes as if any such neglect or failure had not occurred.

Nothing in this chapter shall make it unlawful for any person or corporation to engage in the business of receiving and holding money in escrow or of acting as trustee under deeds of trust given solely for the purpose of securing obligations for the repayment of money other than corporate bonds.

A bank or trust company shall not mingle trust funds received by it with other assets of the corporation or association and such funds shall not be used in the conduct of its business except to the extent that such funds are deposited with the same corporation or association in accordance with the provisions of this division. Any officer of any bank or association who knowingly violates or consents to the violation of this section is guilty of a felony.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any bank and any trust company holding securities in a fiduciary capacity or while engaged in a trust business, or while acting in any capacity under a court or private trust, or while acting in that capacity with one or more persons as cofiduciary or cofiduciaries, unless the instrument creating the trust contains a provision to the contrary, is authorized to deposit or arrange for the deposit of the securities in a securities depository, as defined in Section 30004, which is licensed under Section 30200 or exempted from licensing thereunder by Section 30005 or 30006. When securities are so deposited, they may be held in the custody of the securities depository in which they are deposited or in the custody of any other securities depository so licensed or exempted and in which the securities depository in which the securities were deposited maintains an account, or in the custody of any bank or trust company with authority to accept custody of the securities, that accepts custody of the securities on behalf of a securities depository. The securities may be held in the name of the nominee of the securities depository in which they are deposited, or in the name of the nominee of any other securities depository with which the securities depository in which they are deposited maintains an account. The custodian of securities so deposited may merge certificates representing securities of the same class of the same issuer and may hold those certificates in bulk with any other securities deposited in any securities depository by any person regardless of the ownership of the securities, and certificates of small denomination may be merged into one or more certificates of larger denomination. Any bank or trust company that deposits or arranges for the deposit of the securities in a securities depository shall maintain records that at all times show the ownership of the deposited securities. A bank or trust company depositing securities pursuant to this section shall be subject to such rules and regulations as in the case of state chartered institutions, the commissioner and, in the case of national banking associations, the Comptroller of the Currency may from time to time issue. This section shall apply to securities now held or hereafter held by a bank or trust company in the above designated capacities. A bank or trust company may, but shall not be required to, own capital stock of a securities depository in which it deposits securities pursuant to this section.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any bank and any trust company holding securities in a fiduciary capacity or while engaged in a trust business, or while acting in any capacity under a court or private trust, or while acting in that capacity with one or more persons as cofiduciary or cofiduciaries, unless the instrument creating the trust contains a provision to the contrary, is authorized to deposit or arrange for the deposit with a federal reserve bank of any such securities the principal and interest of which the United States or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof has agreed to pay, or has guaranteed payment, to be credited to one or more accounts on the books of the federal reserve bank in the name of the bank or trust company, to be designated fiduciary or safekeeping accounts, to which accounts other similar securities may be credited. Any bank or trust company that deposits or arranges for the deposit of securities pursuant to this section shall maintain records that at all times show the ownership of the securities deposited. A bank or trust company depositing securities pursuant to this section shall be subject to such rules and regulations as in the case of state-chartered institutions, the commissioner and, in the case of national banking associations, the Comptroller of the Currency, may from time to time issue. Ownership of, and other interests in, the securities credited to such account may be transferred by entries on the books of the federal reserve bank without physical delivery of any securities. A bank or trust company acting as custodian for a fiduciary shall, on demand by the fiduciary, certify in writing to the fiduciary the securities deposited by the bank or trust company pursuant to this section for the account of the fiduciary. A fiduciary shall, on demand by any party to its accounting, certify in writing to that party the securities deposited for its account as a fiduciary pursuant to this section. This section shall apply to all fiduciaries and custodians for fiduciaries, acting on the effective date of this section or who thereafter may act regardless of the state of the instrument or court order by which they are appointed.