Tennessee Code Title 45. Banks and Financial Institutions § 45-1-124

(a) The existence of state banks formed or existing on April 2, 1969, shall not be impaired by the enactment of this chapter and chapter 2 of this title, or by any change in the requirements for the formation of state banks, or by any amendment or repeal of the laws under which they were formed or created, and except as otherwise expressly provided in those chapters, the repeal of a prior act or acts by those chapters shall not affect any right accrued or established, or any liability or penalty incurred, under the act, prior to the repeal of the act.

(b) To the full extent consistent with such rights, liabilities, and penalties, all state banks and, to the extent applicable, all banks, shall hereafter be operated in accordance with this chapter and chapter 2 of this title. Unless the commissioner determines otherwise, this chapter and chapter 2 of this title, and the rules of this chapter and chapter 2 of this title, shall also apply to the operation and regulation of state trust companies and banks whose purposes and powers are limited to fiduciary purposes and powers.

(c) All powers granted in this chapter and chapter 2 of this title may be freely exercised by any corporation, which is empowered by its charter under any prior act of the general assembly and any amendments thereto, to exercise the rights and powers that appertain and belong to a banking institution or to conduct a general banking business, without the necessity of amending its charter, unless the charter expressly prohibits the exercise of such powers.

(d) Except to the extent inconsistent with or contrary to specific provisions of chapters 1, 2 and 3 of this title, Tennessee state banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, and savings banks, and their directors, officers and shareholders shall be governed by and subject to the Tennessee Business Corporation Act, compiled in title 48, chapters 11-27, as the same may be amended from time to time, and successor statutes thereto. The commissioner has the authority to interpret the Tennessee Business Corporation Act as it applies to financial institutions subject to regulation by the commissioner.

(e) The charter of a trust company granted by the commissioner shall not be void due to the enactment of any amendment or repeal of the laws under which it was formed if the trust company is in operation, as determined by the commissioner, on July 1, 1999.

(f) A company engaged in activities subject to this chapter and chapter 2 of this title, on July 1, 1999, but formed, as determined by the commissioner, prior to the enactment of chapter 620 of the Public Acts of 1980, and not previously subject to regulation by the commissioner, may continue to act as a fiduciary without submitting an application. However, the entity shall be otherwise fully subject to this chapter and chapter 2 of this title.

(g) A company authorized by its charter, prior to the enactment of chapter 620 of the Public Acts of 1980, to engage in fiduciary activities, but not engaging in fiduciary activities on July 1, 1999, must file the appropriate application to establish a trust company and then fully comply with this chapter and chapter 2 of this title.

(h) All state trust companies operating on July 1, 1999, shall have a period of time that the commissioner determines to be reasonable and prudent to conform to the requirements of this chapter and chapter 2 of this title and the regulations under this chapter and chapter 2 of this title, but the period shall not exceed three (3) years from July 1, 1999. During this period of time, to conform to the requirements of this chapter and chapter 2 of this title, the commissioner may conduct examinations at the company's expense, and apply the requirements of this chapter and chapter 2 of this title as deemed appropriate.