Article 2. Savings And Loan Account of California Financial Code >> Division 2. >> Chapter 7. >> Article 2.

(a) To meet the operating costs and expenses of the department in administering this division and other laws relating to savings associations or the savings association business, for the payment of which no provision is otherwise made, the commissioner shall require each association doing business in this state to pay in advance an annual assessment for its pro rata share of all operating costs and expenses as estimated by the commissioner for the ensuing year.
  (b) As used in this article, "association" includes a foreign savings association doing business in this state under an approval issued by the commissioner.

The proportion of operating costs and expenses to be assessed against each association shall be determined and prescribed by the commissioner by regulation. The total amount assessed for all associations, together with any existing surplus, shall not exceed the amount of the budget for the ensuing fiscal year plus a reasonable reserve for contingencies.

(a) On or before the 20th day of June of each year the commissioner shall notify each association by mail of the amount assessed and levied against it.
  (b) Except as provided in this article, an association shall pay one-half or more of the amount assessed so as to be received by the commissioner not later than the 10th day of July and shall pay the remainder so as to be received by the commissioner not later than the following 10th day of January.
  (c) If payment is not received by the commissioner on time, the commissioner shall assess and collect in addition to the annual assessment, a penalty of 5 percent of the unpaid assessment for each month or part of a month that the payment is delinquent.

If an association ceases to be an association by reason of merger, consolidation, conversion, acquisition of assets, or a similar type of transaction, any unpaid assessment for the fiscal year ended June 30 in which the conversion, merger, or acquisition occurs shall be due and payable on or before the day preceding the date of the conversion, merger, or acquisition. Payment of the unpaid assessment under this section shall be a condition of approval of any transaction requiring the commissioner's approval.

(a) If a new domestic association is formed during a fiscal year, the initial assessment provided for by this article shall be computed on the same basis as if such new association had been an association and assessed on or before the 20th day of June in the fiscal year preceding the initial assessment except that the initial assessment shall be based on the assets of the new association at the time of issuance of its certificate of authority and, except as provided in subdivision (b), the assessment shall be reduced, if the certificate of authority is not issued in July, by one-twelfth for each full month of the fiscal year which has expired at the time of issuance of the certificate of authority and shall be payable in full on the date of issuance.
  (b) In the levy and collection of an assessment under this article, no association shall be assessed for, or be permitted to pay less than five hundred dollars ($500) for the unexpired portion of the fiscal year in which the domestic association is formed.

If any domestic association proposes to acquire the assets of any federal association or any state or national bank by transfer, conversion, or otherwise, the initial assessment provided for by this article shall be computed on the same basis as if the federal association or state or national bank had been an association and assessed on or before the 20th day of June in the fiscal year preceding the initial assessment, except that the initial assessment shall be based on the assets of the federal association or of the state or national bank, as shown by the institution's report to the Office of Thrift Supervision, the commissioner, or the Comptroller of the Currency, respectively, next preceding the 20th day of June in the fiscal year preceding the initial assessment and the assessment shall be reduced, if the certificate of authority is not issued in July, by one-twelfth for each full month of the fiscal year which has expired at the time of the issuance of the certificate of authority and shall be payable in full on the date of issuance.

As of the operative date of this section:
  (a) The Savings Association Special Regulatory Fund is converted into a separate account in the Financial Institutions Fund and designated as the Savings and Loan Account.
  (b) All moneys and other assets and all liabilities of the Savings Association Special Regulatory Fund shall be transferred to the Savings and Loan Account.

All money collected or received by the commissioner under this division or any other law relating to savings associations or the savings association business, except money belonging to associations whose business property and assets are in the possession of the commissioner, shall be deposited with the State Treasurer to the credit of the Savings and Loan Account in the Financial Institutions Fund.

All expenses of the department in administering the division and other laws relating to savings associations or to the savings association business shall be paid by the Savings and Loan Account; and, except as otherwise provided in Section 276 or 277, and the Savings and Loan Account shall be used only for such purposes.