Section 7273 Of Article 2.5. Other Authorized Investments In Bonds And Securities From California Financial Code >> Division 2. >> Chapter 6. >> Article 2.5.
7273
. Fixed interest railroad bonds meeting the requirements of
subdivisions (a) and (b), bonds secured by a mortgage on jointly
operated railroad facilities meeting the requirements of subdivision
(c), and railroad equipment trust certificates meeting the
requirements of subdivision (d), as follows:
(a) The railroad bonds are issued by or are assumed, guaranteed,
or provision is made unconditionally for the payment of principal and
interest on specified dates, by a solvent railroad company:
(1) That operates at least 500 miles of standard gauge road within
the continental United States and that has had average annual
operating revenues of at least ten million dollars ($10,000,000)
during the five years next preceding the investment.
(2) Whose average annual balance of income available for fixed
charges for the last 15 years for which the necessary statistical
data are available, when divided by an amount equal to its fixed
charges for the last fiscal year, shall produce a quotient that is at
least 15 percent higher than the quotient obtained by dividing the
average annual balance of income available for fixed charges of all
class 1 railroads for the same 15-year period by an amount equal to
the fixed charges of all class 1 railroads for the last year in the
period.
(3) Whose average "balance of net income" (computed by deducting
the sum of its fixed charges and contingent interest charges for the
latest fiscal year from the average annual balance available for
fixed charges for the latest 15 years for which the necessary
statistical data are available) when divided by its average annual
railroad operating income for the same 15-year period, shall produce
a quotient at least 15 percent greater than the quotient obtained by
dividing the average balance of income of all class 1 railroads,
computed in the same manner, by the average annual railway operating
income of all class 1 railroads for the same 15-year period.
(4) Whose average balance of income available for fixed charges
for the last three fiscal years preceding the investment, or for the
lesser number of fiscal years that may have elapsed since December
31, 1946, has not been less than one and one-half times its fixed
charges for the last fiscal year.
(b) The railroad bonds are secured by any of the following:
(1) A mortgage, either direct or collateral, that shall be a first
mortgage on not less than 75 percent of the mileage subject to the
mortgage.
(2) A first mortgage on terminal properties comprising the company'
s principal freight or passenger terminal in a city of not less than
250,000 population according to the latest federal or state census.
(3) A refunding mortgage on not less than 75 percent of the
railroad mileage owned or operated by the issuing company under which
bonds may be issued for retirement or refunding of all debts secured
by prior liens on all or any part of the property, other than liens
on equipment, subject to the mortgage, if the amount of debt senior
to the refunding mortgage is not more than 50 percent of the sum of
all senior debt and the refunding mortgage or if underlying mortgage
bonds in an amount equal to at least 50 percent of the debt
outstanding under the refunding mortgage are pledged as security
under that refunding mortgage.
(4) A first mortgage on railroad property leased to and operated
by the company if the lease extends beyond the maturity date of the
bonds and the company has guaranteed, assumed, or committed itself
under the terms of the lease to pay principal and interest on the
bonds.
(c) Bonds secured by a mortgage on jointly operated railroad
facilities shall be secured by a first mortgage on a terminal, depot,
tunnel, or bridge used by or leased to two or more railroads that
have jointly and severally agreed unconditionally to pay the interest
and principal payment, one of which railroads shall meet the
requirements set forth in subdivision (a).
(d) Railroad equipment trust certificates shall be issued by a
solvent class 1 railroad whose average balance of income available
for fixed charges for the last three fiscal years preceding the
investment, or for the lesser number of fiscal years that may have
elapsed since December 31, 1946, shall be not less than one and
one-half times its fixed charges for the last fiscal year. Those
certificates shall be issued to provide funds for the construction or
acquisition of new standard gauge railroad equipment made with the
approval of the Interstate Commerce Commission and secured by an
equipment trust, lease, conditional sales contract, or first lien on
the equipment. The aggregate principal amount of the obligations
shall not exceed 80 percent of the purchase price of the equipment
and the certificates shall mature within 15 years of the date of
issuance in equal annual, semiannual, or monthly installments,
beginning not later than one year after the date of issuance.
(e) As used in this section, "balance of income available for
fixed charges," "fixed charges," "contingent interest," and "railway
operating income" shall have the same meaning as in the accounting
reports filed by common carriers by rail pursuant to regulations of
the Interstate Commerce Commission, except that "balance of income
available for payment of fixed charges" shall be computed before
deduction of federal income of excess profits taxes, and "fixed
charges" and "contingent interest" of the railroad shall be those
charges existing as of the time the computation is made, excluding
charges with respect to debt that has been retired or will be retired
within six months and for the payment of which funds have been or
are contemporaneously being set aside in trust but including charges
with respect to new debt issued or in the process of being issued.