BrANCHES 
approval of the Comptroller. They must be within the limits of the 
city, town, or village in which the parent institution is located, and 
may be established only in towns with a population of 25,000 or over; 
in cities with a population of 50,000 or less only one branch may be 
established, and in cities with a population in excess of 50,000 but 
not in excess of 100,000, only two branches may be established; in 
cities where the population exceeds 100,000 the determination of the 
number of branches is within the discretion of the Comptroller. The 
establishment of branches by national banks is also specifically con- 
ditioned upon the existence, at the time application is made for the 
establishment of such branches, of laws in the State concerned permit- 
ting the establishment of branches by State banks. The present law 
requires also that no branch of any national bank may be moved 
from one locality to another without the consent of the Comptroller. 
No authority is given for the establishment of branches in territory 
contiguous to the town or city in which the parent bank is located. 
State banks which convert into national banks may maintain in 
operation such branches as were in lawful existence on February 25, 
1927, but must relinquish more recently established branches unless 
they conform to the conditions governing the establishment of branch- 
es by national banks, and unless such branches as do conform to 
these conditions be approved by the Comptroller. 
2. Foreign Branches—The provisions of the McFadden Act relating 
to branch banking do not amend or repeal that section of the Federal 
Reserve Act which empowers national banks to operate foreign 
branches. Under the Federal Reserve Act, any national bank having 
a capital and surplus of not less than $1,000,000 may, with the permis- 
Sion of the Federal Reserve Board, and upon such conditions as may 
be prescribed by the Board, exercise either or both of the following 
Powers: 
|—Establish branches in foreign countries for the furtherance of the foreign 
commerce of the United States, and to act if required to do so as fiscal 
agents of the United States. 
2—To invest an amount not exceeding in the aggregate 10 per cent. of its paid-in 
capital stock and surplus in the stock of one or more banks or corporations 
chartered or incorporated under the laws of the United States or of any 
state and principally engaged in international or foreign banking, either 
directly or through agencies, ownership, or control of local institutions in 
foreign countries. 
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