BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES 411

enter into articles of association which shall specify the object for which
the association is formed and shall state: The name by which the savings
institution is to be known, the village, town or city and county where such
institution is to be located, the names and residences of the members
thereof, the date on which it is proposed to commence operations, the num-
ber of directors proposed to manage the association's affairs, which shall
not be less than five, who must be members of the association, and the
names and residences of the directors who shall serve the first year. The
articles of association shall be executed in triplicate by the persons joining
therein before any officer authorized to take acknowledgments, and then
filed with the Bank Commissioner for examination. The Bank Commis-
sioner shall thereupon ascertain from the best sources of information at
his command, and by such investigation as he may deem necessary, whether
the character, responsibility and general fitness of the person or persons,
named in such certificate, are such as to command confidence and warrant
belief that the business of the proposed corporation will be honestly and
efficiently conducted in accordance with the intent and purpose of this
Article, and whether the public convenience and advantage will be pro-
moted by allowing such proposed corporation to engage in business. After
the Bank Commissioner shall have satisfied himself by. such investigation
whether it is expedient, and desirable to permit such proposed corpora-
tion to engage or continue in business, he shall have power to require such
changes in said certificate as he may deem necessary. He shall within sixty
days after the date of the filing of such certificate for examination, endorse
upon each of the triplicates thereof, over his official signature, the word
"approved" or the word "refused" with the date of such endorsement.
In case of refusal he shall return one of the triplicates so endorsed to the
proposed incorporators. In case of approval, the triplicates shall be re-
turned to the proposed incorporators, and shall then be submitted to one
of the judges of the judicial circuit in which the savings institution is to be
located, in order that he may determine whether the said articles are framed
in accordance with existing laws. One copy shall then be filed for record
in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county in which the
institution is to be located, or in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court
of Baltimore City, when to be located in said city, and one copy shall be
filed with the Bank Commissioner, who shall issue his certificate therefor,
and one copy shall be filed with the State Tax Commission. The corpora-
tion so formed shall have no legal existence until all copies of the articles
of association shall have been filed for record as herein directed. The fee
for filing such articles of incorporation with the Bank Commissioner shall
be ten ($10.00) dollars, and for filing amendments to the articles of incor-
poration, five ($5.00) dollars, all such fees to be collected by the Bank
Commissioner. Provision shall be made in the by-laws of the association
for annual meetings for the purpose of electing directors and members,
and the transaction of other business. Every director shall take and sub-
scribe an oath that he will diligently and honestly perform the duties of
such office, and will not knowingly violate or permit a violation of any
provision of this Article.

For a case involving the right to withdraw bonds deposited by a savings bank with
the state treasurer, upon the repeal of the law requiring such deposits, see Vandiver v.
Fidelity Savings Bank, 120 Md. 619.

Under the act of 1868, ch. 471, sec. 2, a savings bank had no power to discount a
note. Such lack of power, however, was no defense to a suit by the bank against the
endorser of the note. United German Bank v. Katz, 57 Md. 128.

As to savings departments in state banks, see sec. 39.